Residents and police officials in London prepared for additional violence Tuesday following three nights of what police said was the worst rioting in the city in decades. The scope of the violence left some parts of the city in ruins. Local and national officials worked feverishly to end or to significantly reduce the widespread lawlessness.
A spokesman for the London Metropolitan Police said 16,000 officers — some called in from other jurisdictions — would be on the streets Tuesday night. That’s more than double the number on duty Monday. The question, though, is whether the additional police presence and other measures will produce the desired result.
For three nights, the gangs of mostly young people who have taken to the streets have outmaneuvered the police. They used instant messages to report the movements of law enforcement officials. They directed their cohorts — many traveling on bicycles and mopeds that could move more swiftly through urban streets than police vehicles — to sites lightly protected or unprotected by police. Law enforcement officials expect more of the same.
The rioting, which began Saturday in n economically deprived area of London, spread quickly. Politicians and other officials say the violence is the work of criminals and other misfits. That claim is disputed by observers who say social, political and economic tensions are the root of the trouble.
There is some evidence to support that claim, though most who make it agree that peaceful not violent means should be used to address those problems. At the moment, though, those who espouse disorder have prevailed.