Chief Constable Simon Byrne has argued Stormont's "confusing and inconsistent" coronavirus laws were to blame for scuppering prosecutions over Bobby Storey's funeral as he defended police actions.
It came as Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd refused to confirm reports that Gerry Kelly was the senior Sinn Fein representative he contacted about the funeral plans.
Mr Byrne again made clear he would not be resigning, saying that prior engagement with the funeral organisers would be "normal practice" for police.
The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) on Tuesday announced it would not be taking action against 24 Sinn Fein politicians over their attendance at the republican funeral in West Belfast last June.
It said a lack of clarity and coherence in the regulations limiting public gatherings and the prior engagement between organisers and police posed an "insurmountable difficulty".
Mr Byrne told BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show police would have been criticised if they had not spoken to the organisers of the funeral.
"The critical thing to remember here that when you look at the findings from the Director of Public Prosecutions, he is really clear that actually regardless of what we did or didn't do, which we still stand behind, was the fact that on the day the law was confusing and inconsistent, and that inhibited his ability to bring a prosecution," he said.
Mr Todd, who was the PSNI's 'gold commander' organising its approach on the day of the funeral, said he spoke to a senior member of Sinn Fein shortly after former IRA man Mr Storey died.
The Assistant Chief Constable said he understood the Sinn Fein member was "to be central to the planning of the event going forward".
He declined to confirm this was Policing Board member Gerry Kelly after the Nolan Show reported it understood the unnamed individual was the North Belfast MLA.
Mr Todd said he was keen to know from an early stage whether the event would involve "any shows of paramilitary affiliation or strength".
He said he raised how it would be "inappropriate to bring large numbers of people onto the streets of Belfast at the time of the pandemic, in breach of the regulations", and the "the individual indicated that they understood that."
Mr Todd defended the PSNI's approach to the funeral, and noted how coronavirus restrictions have changed more than 23 times.
"Nobody thinks, I certainly don't think, that what happened that day was right. I think it was wrong. I think it breached the law. But I am professionally restrained within the law and within good practice as to what the policing response to that looks like."
He said that last summer their legal advice and UK policing guidance said officers could not issue fixed penalty notices after an event, but this has changed more recently.
First Minister Arlene Foster reiterated her demand for the Chief Constable to quit over the episode, and suggested the Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Herron should also consider his position.
The DUP leader refused to rule out withdrawing her party representatives from the Policing Board if Mr Byrne continued in his job.
"Confidence is at an all-time low in policing, not just within unionism," she told the BBC.
Mrs Foster also warned Sinn Fein it would not be business as usual at Stormont.
She insisted the PPS decision was "not the end of the matter" and rejected any suggestion things would "carry on as normal".
Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O'Neill, who was among the 24, has reiterated her apology for any damage caused to public health messaging and insisted she has "worked tirelessly" to rebuild public trust.
