The day after the first night of riots, the police were patrolling public areas fairly heavily, even early, as riot vans circled in preparation for the evening and the whipping rush of helicopter blades came and went wherever you were in the core of the city.
Outside of the library, two cops were standing watch over Chamberlain Square. My coworker and I ate lunch in the square and watched two very different scenes involving the policemen. The first is partly shown in the video below -- they stopped three young boys dressed like the rioters in order to question and perhaps influence them to not take part in the riots or to go in a different direction when they grow up (though they might, instead, develop a (greater?) hatred for police due to the incident). They inspected items on their person and eventually seemed good-natured with them -- even laughing a little at some point -- though it was clear the boys were nervous and embarrassed.
The other incident was included in a previous post, when a group of roughly a half-dozen also fairly young boys (though a little older, perhaps, than the boys in the video) passed closely by the cops, the ringleader strutting proudly in the forefront, rapping at a high volume. The policemen watched as they passed but didn't stop them--probably due to their being outnumbered by the boys as well as the large amount of people in the square should things get ugly (i.e., if the boys had weapons).
