LONDON (AP) -- Britain began flooding London's streets with 16,000 police officers Tuesday, tripling their presence as the nation feared its worst rioting in a generation would stretch into a fourth night. The violence has turned buildings into burnt out carcasses, triggered massive looting and spread to other U.K. cities.
Police said they were working full-tilt, but found themselves under attack -- from rioters roaming the streets, from a scared and worried public, and from politicians whose cost-cutting is squeezing police numbers ahead of next year's Olympic Games.
London's Metropolitan Police force vowed an unprecedented operation to stop more rioting, flooding the streets Tuesday with 16,000 officers over the next 24 hours, nearly three times Monday's total. Although the riots started Saturday with a protest over a police shooting, they have morphed into a general lawlessness that police have struggled to halt with ordinary tactics.
The riots and looting caused heartache for Londoners whose businesses and homes were torched or looted, and a crisis for police and politicians already staggering from a spluttering economy and a scandal over illegal phone hacking by a tabloid newspaper that has dragged in senior politicians and police. (30 images)
Police said they were working full-tilt, but found themselves under attack -- from rioters roaming the streets, from a scared and worried public, and from politicians whose cost-cutting is squeezing police numbers ahead of next year's Olympic Games.
London's Metropolitan Police force vowed an unprecedented operation to stop more rioting, flooding the streets Tuesday with 16,000 officers over the next 24 hours, nearly three times Monday's total. Although the riots started Saturday with a protest over a police shooting, they have morphed into a general lawlessness that police have struggled to halt with ordinary tactics.
The riots and looting caused heartache for Londoners whose businesses and homes were torched or looted, and a crisis for police and politicians already staggering from a spluttering economy and a scandal over illegal phone hacking by a tabloid newspaper that has dragged in senior politicians and police. (30 images)
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London residents wait to be allowed through a police cordon to help council workers with the clear up after the rioting that took place the previous night outside Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, London, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. Britons swept up, patched up and feared further violence Tuesday, demanding police do more to protect them after three nights of rioting left trails of looted stores, wrecked cars and burned buildings across London and several other cities. AP / Matt Dunham
Local residents launch a clean-up operation around Mare St. Residents met at Hackney Town Hall to express their disgust at the damage caused on the third day of rioting, praise the local council and to travel to Clarence Rd. to assist with the clean-up. ZUMAdaily.com / Nick Cunard
Shop keepers sweep up broken glass inside their store in the Clapham area of London, Tuesday, August 9, 2011, in the aftermath of recent riots in the capital. AP / Elizabeth Dalziel
An employee of a looted shop cleans up debris in the aftermath of riots in the Clapham area of London Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Elizabeth Dalziel
A policeman comes out of Starbucks cafe in the area of Clapham in the aftermath left by riots in London Tuesday, August 9, 2011. AP / Elizabeth Dalziel
A young girl wearing a hoodie that reads " I heart London" looks behind a police line at the aftermath left by riots at the area of Clapham in London Tuesday, August 9, 2011. AP / Elizabeth Dalziel
London mayor Boris Johnson, front center, walks away after addressing local residents waiting to be allowed through a police cordon to help council workers with the clear up at after the rioting that took place the previous night outside Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, London, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Matt Dunham
A neighbor cries as she looks at the aftermath left by the riots in the area of Clapham in London Tuesday, August 9, 2011. AP / Elizabeth Dalziel
London residents wait to be allowed through a police cordon to help council workers with the clean up, after the rioting that took place the previous night outside Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, London, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Matt Dunham
Shop keepers begin to clean up on Ealing High Street, west London following a third straight of disturbances on the streets of London Tuesday Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Anthony Devlin
Fire fighters tend to a fire-damaged shop and flats above it after the rioting that took place the previous night near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, London, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Matt Dunham
Firemen work in the area of Clapham in London Tuesday, August 9, 2011, in the aftermath left by riots. AP / Elizabeth Dalziel
Firefighters spray water onto building set on fire by rioters last night in Croydon, south London, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Sang Tan
Aerial view of smoldering buildings in Croydon Town Centre following riots in London on Tuesday, August 8, 2011. ZUMAdaily.com / Invicta Kent Media
A firefighter sprays water on the furniture store set on fire by rioters last night in Croydon, south London, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Sang Tan
Smoke rises from a burning Sony distribution center reportedly set alight by rioters,in Enfield, north London, Tuesday Aug. 9 2011. AP / Akira Suemori
Firefighters fight a blaze at the Sony warehouse that was allegedly set alight, early Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011 during unrest in Enfield, North London. AP / Karel Prinsloo
A property is on fire near Reeves Corner in Croydon, south London Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. AP / Lewis Whyld
A building burns as a riot police officer watches in Croydon, south London, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Dominic Lipinski
A shop is set on fire as rioters gather in Croydon, south London, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Sang Tan
A masked youth pulls a burning garbage bin set on fire by rioters in Hackney, east London, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
A car is seen on fire in Hackney, east London, as rioters were rampaging across London, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Lewis Whyld
Police arrest a man for looting in Clapham Junction in south London, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Simon Dawson
A youth kicks the window of a jewelry store near the Bullring shopping center in Birmingham, England, as violence spreads outside London Monday evening, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / David Jones
A police officer drives a damaged vehicle during violent skirmishes between police and youths in Hackney, east London, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Lewis Whyld
A man walks past a buring car on a street in Hackney, east London. Rioting starting late Saturday and spread across London on Monday, with vandalizing, arson and looting taking place in various London communities. ZUMAdaily.com / Guo Dayue
British police officers charge rioters, during riots in Hackney, east London, Monday Aug. 8, 2011. Youths set fire to shops and vehicles in a host of areas of London _ which will host next summer's Olympic Games _ and clashed with police in the nation's central city of Birmingham, as authorities struggled to halt groups of rampaging young people. AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
British police officers are deployed during riots in Hackney, east London, Monday Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Lefteris Pitarakis
A photographer holds his head after he was attacked by protesters in Hackney, east London, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Karel Prinsloo
People loot a shop in Hackney, east London, Monday, Aug. 8, 2011. AP / Lewis Whyld
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