The PSNI Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, has apologised for the style of the high-profile raid on the Sinn Féin offices in Parliament Buildings but not for the decision to mount it.
His decision to speak publicly yesterday about what he views as an error of judgment followed criticism by the vice-chairman of the Policing Board and the SDLP of Friday's raid at Stormont.
Mr Denis Bradley was quick to question the manner in which the search at Stormont was mounted and for the media circus it prompted.
"Why did it take 40 or 60 or whatever number of men to go into parliament? I think that's a major thing for policing to do," he said. "There is a Policing Board now and it's the responsibility of the board not to support the police, but to hold the police accountable.
"Those questions will be asked either by the total board or part of the board and answers will have to be given and if mistakes have been made, then people have to be made accountable in that situation," he added.
Two detectives who were backed up by about 20 officers had entered the Sinn Féin office headed by Mr Denis Donaldson who is now in custody and facing charges.
A number of rumours swept Stormont yesterday about the validity of police powers to conduct the search and the scale of the operation carried out before television cameras.
The SDLP members of the Policing Board met the Chief Constable yesterday to raise their concerns, amid suspicions by some of dirty tricks.
The party's policing spokesman, Mr Alex Attwood, said they were worried by the timing, numbers involved, nature and outcome of the search.
Mr Orde insisted the searches at Stormont and across Belfast were necessary on operational grounds and said his officers had acted appropriately.
"I've looked at the film and I think we could have done the raid itself in a more sensitive and appropriate style," he said, "but I would make the point that the need to search that office was clear in my mind as an investigator.
"That had to be done. That is not the issue for me. It is the style in which we did it and I think we could have done it better."
He also said he had spoken to the senior officers involved and had met the Assembly speaker, Lord Alderdice.
The apology was dismissed by Mr Gerry Adams who said the raids smacked of political theatre. "It's gracious of him to apologise but it's a bit late.
"The raid on the Sinn Féin office in Stormont was very clearly part of an effort to stitch Sinn Féin into whatever's happening after the UUC decided to pull out of the institution as they did at their council meeting three weeks ago," the Sinn Féin president said.