Paramilitaries on all sides have carried out 1,700 punishment attacks since 1998, the Chief Constable has said.
Mr Hugh Orde told a public session of the Policing Board that 613 attacks were carried out by republicans, mostly the Provisional IRA, while 1,083 were inflicted by various loyalist paramilitaries.
Mr Orde said the trends in the attacks by republicans showed "political sensitivity", with beatings almost non-existent at key times in the political process.
He reported that the incidence of attacks dropped significantly following key Sinn Féin statements calling for an end to all violence.
Mr Orde further asserted that beatings stopped during the two months before last November's elections to the suspended Stormont Assembly.
He told the Policing Board: "In September 1998 there was a statement which Sinn Féin issued saying they believed that violence will now be a thing of the past. At that point republican attacks dropped to two in that same month. In November 2003, a point which was also made by the Independent Monitoring Commission, attacks dropped to two in December and there were no attacks in October to December 2003."
The figures were given in response to a question from Mr Ian Paisley jnr, a DUP member of the Policing Board, who had asked how much control paramilitary leaderships had over the incidence of beatings.
Mr Paisley's question follows the publication last month of the first report by the Independent Monitoring Commission, which reported on the extent of paramilitary activity.
Afterwards Mr Paisley said: "The evidence shows that coming up to elections, Sinn Féin can switch IRA violence on and off at will," he said. "That is a very serious allegation and it is backed up by evidence. I think people should be alarmed that we have a government wanting to put that sort of organisation into the government of our country."
Sinn Féin denounced the Chief Constable's claims, accusing him of behaving in an overtly political manner. The party rejected the allegations and claimed that it wanted an end to all punishment attacks.
Mr Alex Maskey said: "For a Chief Constable who said that politics and policing don't mix, he's made a good job of getting involved in politics.
"We are opposed to any and all punishment attacks. We don't want them stopped for five minutes or five months or five years. We want them stopped."
Other members of the Policing Board, both party political and independent, speaking privately to The Irish Times, supported the Chief Constable's contentions and accepted his findings.
Mr Orde also told board members, in response to questions concerning PSNI resources, that Northern Ireland had roughly twice the ratio of officers to citizens compared to England and Wales.
Board members were also warned that a scheme to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder among officers was being considered and could cost in the region of £100 million.