Most people who complain about the police in Northern Ireland do not appear to support a political party, figures have revealed.
A survey for the Police Ombudsman's Office in Belfast suggested that the majority of complainants were Protestants while the number of Catholics using the system had fallen slightly.
From November 2000 until March last year, the ombudsman's office received slightly over 14,000 complaints about the police.
More than 4,000 people provided details of their background for the survey.
In 2004 the office also asked a number of additional questions of people, including one about their political opinions.
Most of those who responded (41%) said they did not support any political party. Of those who said they had an interest in politics, 26% said they supported the DUP. The figures for the other main parties were SDLP 11%, UUP 8%, Sinn Féin 7%, Alliance 3% and Others 4%.
The figures for the five years since the office opened showed that a total of 49% of respondents said they belonged to one of the main Protestant denominations.
Catholics made up 38% of respondents while the remainder described their religion as 'other' or 'none'.
Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan said the figures indicated that the people using her office were broadly reflective of the composition within the community.
The figures for people from the Protestant community had remained fairly steady over the years, while there was a slight drop in the number of Catholics using the system, she said.
Mrs O'Loan highlighted the fact that the proportion of people who said they did not follow any religious belief had risen from less than 1% to 9%.
