PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde has called on the community to support the new police service.
Mr Orde said it was vital that new district partnerships, set up to make the police accountable, fully reflected the make-up of the community.
The new service, as yet, does not have full cross-community support. Sinn Féin is insisting on legislative change including the disbandment of the controversial Special Branch division before it takes a place on the Policing board.
Speaking at a special thanksgiving service at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast,Mr Orde expressed hope that everyone would eventually get behind the police.
"I hope it will happen. It has to happen if the system is going to work effectively," he said. The prize, he added, was a police service that was the pride of people in Northern Ireland and the envy of other countries.
Mr Orde said it was encouraging that 35% of those applying to join the new service were Catholic.
He paid tribute to people from different backgrounds who were coming forward to join in the face of terrorist threat. "They deserve our support," he said. Mr Orde, who took up his new post earlier this year, said it had been a momentous year of change for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, with a new name, badge, uniform and chief constable.
But he added it was vital to ensure that the service continued to move forward.
"The evolution of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland remains a work in progress. There is much to be achieved to reduce levels of sickness and ensure that every officer available is at the front end of policing, not behind a desk."
Paying tribute to the RUC officers who had died or been seriously injured during the troubles, he added: "We would not be in the current position if it hadn't been for the determination of those who have gone before us."
A total of RUC officers and reserve officers were murdered by terrorists from 1969 to 1998, while more than 8,000 were seriously injured, he said. "It is humbling to think of all those lives lost in the service of the community," said Mr Orde.
"Countless lives have been saved as result of police effort and their sacrifice has not been in vain."
PA