Mr Chris Patten's Independent Commission on Policing was told at a public meeting in the loyalist Shankill in Belfast last night that working-class Protestants also have difficulties with the force.
At the meeting, attended by about 50 people, only one man accused its members of acting at the behest of "Sinn Fein/IRA".
A community activist involved in probation work said the police must change their "mindset". He suggested they were more focused on questioning young people about paramilitary activity rather than dealing with social problems.
Another speaker said too many police were recruited "from the middle classes and academia".