protests and to expressing sympathy toward a stabber who attacked three people in September 2019 near a Lennon Wall. He was later removed from handling all protest-related cases. The government's extended absence and its lack of a political solution in the early stage of the protests catapulted the police into the front line, and heavy-handed policing became a substitute for solving a political crisis. The police force was initially "lost and confused" and was discontent with the government for not offering enough support. Subsequently, Lam's blanket denial of allegations of police brutality led to accusations that Lam and her administration endorsed police violence. Throughout the protests, the establishment waited for demonstrators' aggression to increase so they could justify greater militarisation of the police and dismiss the protesters as "insurgents" and thereby also dismiss their demands. Ma Ngok, a political scientist, remarked that the failures of the government meant that it "has lost the trust of a whole generation" and predicted that youths would remain angry at both the government and the police for years to come. Police's image and accountability The reputation of the police took a serious drubbing following the heavy-handed treatment of protesters. In October 2019, a survey conducted by CUHK revealed that more than 50 percent of respondents were deeply dissatisfied with the police's performance. The satisfaction rate of police force dropped to a record low after the handover. According to some reports, their aggressive behaviours and tactics have caused them to become a symbol that represents hostility and suppression. Their actions against protesters resulted in a breakdown of citizens' trust of the police. Citizens were also concerned over the ability of the police to regulate and control their members and feared their abuse of power. The suspected acts of police brutality led some politically neutral or political apathetic citizens to become more sympathetic towards the young protesters. Fearing Hong Kong was changing into a police state, some citizens actively considered emigration. The lack of any prosecutions against officers, and the absence of independent police oversight, sparked fears that the police could not be held accountable for their actions and that they were immune to any legal consequences. Affected by the controversies surrounding the police force's handling of the protests, between June 2019 to February 2020, 446 police officers quit (which was 40 per cent higher than the figure in 2018), and the force only managed to