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Government plans to introduce locally elected police commissioners in England and Wales could be disrupted by Liberal Democrats in the Lords.
Under coalition plans, police authorities are due to be abolished by next May with police and crime commissioners being introduced to oversee each police force.
The first police commissioners will be elected on the same day as local elections in May 2012, and then held every four years.
However, it has been reported that Lib Dem peers are expected to disrupt the timetable by introducing amendments to the legislation, currently going through Parliament.
Two senior figures are calling for the idea to be piloted before being implemented across England and Wales.
But Lady Hamwee, Lib Dem home affairs spokeperson in the Lords has said she wants the proposals to be trialled for three years first.
She told the BBC: "There are concerns about things like where the boundaries are between the new commissioners and chief constables and seeing something working as a pilot ought to give a better basis for assessing the way the whole thing will operate."
Lib Dem Lord Bradshaw, a former vice chairman of the Thames Valley Police Authority, said he too wanted to see the idea piloted, with the delay possibly until beyond the next general election.
He said he believed the plans could politicise the police.
"The only people who would, as it were, stand are people probably with the backing of a political party or possibly in some cases a very dominant local newspaper, and I don't believe the public would feel any more represented than they are now," Lord Bradshaw said.
There is not expected to be a significant rebellion when the Bill, already passed by the commons, reaches its second reading stage in the Lords next week.
Instead the peers will make their intention known to amend the bill in committee.
The coalition agreement committed the government to making police accountable through a directly elected individual.
A recent YouGov poll for Libertyfound that only 15 per cent of those asked would trust an elected police and crime commissioner more than the current system to protect their family from crime.
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