however, hostility between the largely black crowd and the largely white police force quickly escalated into a series of mild street battles. these then developed into elongated skirmishes in the areas of brixton road and acre lane, where the first two of a total of 55 cars over the following 48 hours were burnt out. in response the police deployed the first 50 officers in riot gear in the afternoon, who approached rioters by banging their truncheons on their riot shields. through force which involved a number of reported unprovoked attacks on local passers-by and accredited members of the media, the police cordoned off the area around the police station on brixton road, and then cleared the surrounding shopping district.