Special Branch officers in Northern Ireland are facing a damning new report today.
A major review carried out by Mr Dan Crompton of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary is believed to be highly critical of their analysis of information and the way they make use of evidence and follow up lines of inquiry.
The report will be handed over when the Chief Constable Hugh Orde meets the Policing Board in Belfast later today.
The review was ordered in the aftermath of the seriously flawed police investigation into the Omagh bomb outrage of August 1998 which left 29 people dead.
The role of Special Branch in the run-up to the Omagh bombing was strongly criticised after it emerged that police were warned 11 days in advance of the Real IRA atrocity but information was never passed to officers on the ground.
It is understood that the Crompton report also reveals deep frustration felt by senior investigating officers towards Special branch generally in Northern Ireland.
The report is likely to call for sweeping changes in how the intelligence gathering network is run.