Sir Iain Livingstone says admitting Police Scotland is institutionally racist and discriminatory was "absolutely the right thing to do". The chief constable, due to retire this summer, addressed the comments he made last month to the Scottish Police Authority.
Speaking at the watchdog's meeting on Wednesday, he said it was a difficult thing to say but was absolutely certain it was the truth and the right thing to do.
He told the meeting, which is his last as Scotland's police chief: "I knew it would be a difficult message for some people to hear and, as I said myself, it was a difficult statement in some ways for me to say. But in the weeks that have passed, I know that what I said is true and it's absolutely the right thing to do to allow the organisation to make progress."
Sir Iain said the force is not "the only significant institution that perhaps should have that level of assessment and consideration".
He said: "But we will take the lead because of the significant status that policing has in Scottish life and, rightfully, the high expectations that are expected of us."
Sir Iain listed a range of issues for consideration, including how officers are equipped, how death messages are dealt with, how searches are carried out, and flexible working options for its workforce.
"Are we truly as inclusive as we should be and need to be?," he asked the SPA meeting in Edinburgh.
"Not because officers and staff, whether they're front-end operational service delivery or they're part of our corporate support function, not because they're seeking to act in a discriminatory manner, but actually our processes, our systems, our structures are not as inclusive as they could and should be.
"Actually saying that I think is, for me, telling you that Sunday is the day after Saturday, and then it allows us to go and make progress to make the organisation a better place."
The SPA meeting also heard the conclusions of a review into toxicology services which was launched last year after hundreds of drug-driving cases had to be dropped because blood samples were not analysed within the time limit.
Chief Inspector Craig Naylor, of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, said while staff are highly professional and deliver "a highly capable system", the service is challenged by volume.
"They have been used to doing significant amounts of overtime just to keep the lights on and to keep things moving," he told the SPA.
"The prevalence of people taking drugs, whether it is unlawful drugs or even pain medication they may be prescribed, and then driving has been unknown and to be absolutely honest we think it is still relatively unknown.
"Although the demand from Police Scotland has been better understood, but that's still a demand which has been based upon a small number of trained specialist officers to deliver the roadside drug tests."
Since 2019, police have collected more than 7,000 blood samples from suspected drug-drivers.
He said there has been a "wide, unquantified demand" for testing which had not been examined "as much as it should by partners right across the system", which put it "under considerable pressure from day one".
Paul Edie, chairman of the authority's forensic services committee, said the situation has improved significantly since the report was commissioned.
But he added: "While we are night and day away from where we were last year, we've still got a job to do."
The SPA meeting also heard from Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham, who spoke about Operation Talla, the Covid-19 response, and Operation Unicorn upon the death of the Queen last year.
Operation Unicorn saw more than 15,000 officers deployed and cost Police Scotland £15,618,640, which was fully recovered from the Scottish and UK governments.
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