Although chief secretary Matthew Cheung apologised for the delayed police response to the violence in Yuen Long, saying the force's handling of the incident "[fell] short of people's expectations", he backtracked the next day after police unions reacted angrily. Cheung then proclaimed that the police had "fulfilled its duties in maintaining social order under enormous stress at this difficult time". Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam continued to support the police and refused outright to criticise their conduct, let alone set up an independent judicial inquiry. More than 30 leaders from across society, notably including former chief justice Andrew Li, have publicly called on the administration to launch an independent inquiry, but this is staunchly opposed by police unions. The newly promoted commissioner Chris Tang said that independent scrutiny would be an "injustice" and a "tool for inciting hatred" against the force. Government opposition to an independent inquiry has lent credence to the idea that it actively endorses police violence. No police have been held accountable for their excesses as at the end of December 2019. The inevitable conclusion many members of the public have drawn is that the police have total immunity. Police sources of "Washington Post" have said that a culture of impunity pervades the police force, such that riot police often disregard their training or became dishonest in official reports to justify excessive force. Commenting on police performance against guidelines one officer said that "commanders are too afraid to upset the front-line officers, so if their behavior is not too far away from the guidelines, then they’ll just turn a blind eye [to excesses]". In response to the Post, the Police on 2019-12-25 stated that all officers are accountable for the force they use and their supervisors are present on site to oversee and ensure that the use of force is lawful.