Stormont talks have been held between Peter Robinson, Matt Baggott and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness after three nights of clashes between police and rioters.
More than 80 officers have been injured - among the most serious, a young female officer pelted with concrete blocks in Ardoyne.
The power-sharing DUP and Sinn Fein leaders have already been singled out by Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay, when he called into question whether politicians had done enough to prevent such violence during the marching season.
His remarks were branded "unhelpful and unacceptable" by Mr Robinson.
But on Wednesday, he and the Chief Constable insisted they were fully supportive of each other's efforts.
"We have nothing but the highest admiration for the way the police have coped with the most difficult of circumstances over the last couple of days and we again call on our whole community to stand beside the police at this time and every time," said Mr Robinson.
Flanked by the First and Deputy First Ministers outside Stormont Castle, Mr Baggott added: "I have never had a rift with my colleagues standing to the left and right of me here.
"We are absolutely determined that we will make progress and do the right things."
He said: "I also want to acknowledge the very real commitment from the First and Deputy First Minister to working with the PSNI in dealing with the very real issues of the future.
"I would also like to say thank you to my own colleagues for their professionalism and courage shown over previous nights. Their restraint was truly world class.
"We will now move forward to the next phase which will be about bringing those to justice who sought to bring misery back to our streets and to take us back into the past."
There has been criticism of the police response to the rioting, given the lack of arrests during disturbances on the Eleventh and Twelfth nights and on the following night.
But the tactics adopted have been defended by Justice Minister David Ford.
He told UTV the police are "talking about investigating video coverage of what happened", but added that "we have to accept the reality of the situation the police were in".
On Monday night, violence flared across Belfast - most notably in the Ardoyne area - and in Lurgan and parts of Londonderry.
Police were attacked with blast bombs, petrol bombs, bricks and other missiles. They responded with baton rounds and water cannons.
On Tuesday night, further trouble broke out and shots were fired at officers in the Brompton Park area.
A pipe bombs and numerous petrol bombs were again thrown and burning barricades were put in place by rioters.
Police again responded with baton rounds and water cannons.
"Every time they would have arrested some one it required taking an arresting officer away from the front line," said Mr Ford.
"Those police officers were better used dealing with trouble.
"What we have to ensure is that we follow up the video evidence and people are made amenable to the law for the crimes they committed."
"Unacceptable"
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the violence will not be allowed to drag Northern Ireland back to the dark days of the Troubles.
"It is quite clear that there are groups out there who are committed to try to plunge our society back into conflict," he said.
"One thing is absolutely certain - they will not succeed.
"They will not succeed because we are determined to stand together and use all our resources to ensure that they do not achieve their worst aim and I think as we go forward we go forward in unity."
The comments came as Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the "restraint and bravery" of the officers in the face of what he called "completely unacceptable" rioting.
The Tory leader added that he is keeping in regular touch with Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson "to make sure that everything that needs to be done is being done".
"This is a devolved issue and we should - having devolved policing and justice - allow David Ford and the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to give the lead they are giving," he said.
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin said he was deeply concerned by the upsurge in violence in Northern Ireland.
He expressed fears those orchestrating the disturbances wanted to see young rioters killed in clashes with police, in a bid to escalate the conflict and destabilise the peace process.
"These young people are being led into this," Mr Martin said.
"They're being directed into this kind of activity - all with the view of creating mayhem, to undermine the police force.
"We do need counter-forces to work to prevent young people from being sucked into this kind of activity by cynical godfathers who are intend on provoking mayhem."
The Orange Order released a statement criticising the violence and thanking police for their professionalism.
"We totally condemn the attacks on the PSNI and hope that the injured officers are all able to make a full recovery and return to duty as soon as possible," the statement read.