Dialogue: Crime-busting best left to pros

There is an interesting scene in the film Gladiator where two senators ponder who rules Rome - is it Caesar or is it the Senate?

The answer of course is neither - it's the mob who are really in control, with pliable emotions that can be harnessed and manipulated to create an uncontrollable force. And when the mob becomes the angry mob their power is really exercised.

Today we have seen uncontrollable mob mentality with soccer hooliganism, which threatens the law, and now we are seeing it with vigilante groups who truly believe that they act on behalf of the law.

We first saw signs of citizens taking the law into their own hands in the early 90s in cities like New York where a group called Heaven's Angels emerged.

This was a self-appointed, uniformed club of heavy-looking Samaritans who would roam the public transport system to protect the law-abiding against escalating violence and crime.

And you can't help admiring them for doing it. It made sense, since modern-day police always seem to be encouraging the community to "own" the crime problem with neighbourhood watch and other such philosophies.

But of course sometimes consumers need clarification on the difference between getting actively involved in crime prevention and having their own shot at exercising the long arm of the law.

Sometimes the latter is best left to the so-called experts.

Recently we have witnessed a British tabloid inciting the mob mentality by publishing the identities of convicted paedophiles; it led to all sorts of cases of mistaken identity and innocents victimised. And then there was last week's bizarre case of the village-idiot vigilantes in Wales who mistook a paediatrician's profession as that of being a paedophile. (Pedicurists are no doubt battening down the hatches.)

Vigilante activism is also gaining popularity in our own city. We have seen vigilantes drive a paedophile and some prostitutes out of Mt Wellington.

And earlier this year there was the feminist group roaming Albert Park as both a deterrent and a provocateur to the repeated sex offender who lurked. Why did they do this? Because they weren't convinced the system really had a handle on matters.

Once upon a time, in an era where the local minister, scout master and family doctor were still the pillars of the community we were like docile sheep, trusting the system and leaving those in positions of authority to take charge. And it seemed to work.

But something has gone horribly wrong. Street crime and offences of a truly gruesome nature now seem commonplace and widespread (or at least widely publicised) and consumers are questioning the institutions supposedly controlling the situation. People are wondering out loud whether we are tough enough on our criminals, particularly when they seem to continually reoffend.

There is concern that "the system" is too politically correct, long-winded and full of red tape to really punish the wrong-doers to the extent they deserve. Thus consumer vigilante activism not only allows the "average man on the street" to vent his frustrations but also feel satisfied that criminals do suffer as victims.

Of course this "average man on the street" may not understand the full picture, appreciate the good strategies of the organisations supposedly keeping control of social problems or indeed hear of any of the "success stories" associated with crime control which may indeed satisfy their need for justice. Or maybe he doesn't want to know.

Continually faced with extreme crimes against the innocent, the backlash reaction seems equally extreme, with calls for no-parole sentencing, castration, even death.

Despite occasional bumbling errors of judgment, and some Ku Klux Klannish tactics, consumer vigilante groups will have increasing appeal. Somewhere deep in all of us there is an immense satisfaction when citizens take matters into their own hands.

Maybe it's a genetic thing passed down from our ancestors - active vigilante tactics seem to hark back to era where peasants shouted, "Stone him! Stone him!"

Whatever, our young country has lost its innocence. We are no longer the sleepy society that leaves its front doors open and allows the kids to walk to school by themselves. And this irks the good citizens who seek revenge.