The Northern Ireland Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan tonight vowed to spend another four years overseeing policing in Northern Ireland.
Despite enduring some severe criticism from police officers and unionist politicians in the three years since her office was established, Mrs O'Loan said she had never considered quitting.
Her office was thrust into controversy when she criticised the police investigation into the Real IRA bomb attack in Omagh which killed 29 people including the mother of unborn twins in 1998.
Mrs O'Loan's condemnation sparked a major public row with the then Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
However, she said she had seen enormous changes in policing in the last three years and hoped to see her seven-year term of office through.
"It can be a difficult job, but it is very important and we are working hard to make a difference," she said.
"I think we have seen massive cultural change, I think its an ongoing process and I think it's for all of us, the whole community, to work together in that process."
Mrs O'Loan said her office had now become established and was largely trusted by the public.
"Our public surveys tell us that 86 per cent of the community believe we are independent and 79 per cent or so that we are impartial so I think that there must be a belief out there that things will be dealt with," she said.
"And dealing with things isn't just about convicting police officers, its about making sure they have the proper training." Mrs O'Loan said her office, which employs 125 people, had received 10,000 complaints in its first three years of operation.
PA