Community reponse to crime: Two middle-class anti-crime patrols

This paper examines two middle-class citizen patrols in the light of previous studies of patrols in lower- and working-class communities situated in very large urban areas. Consistent with previous research, our data show that patrol participation is related to the belief that citizens should play a role in crime prevention, to a slightly lower fear of crime, and to general social involvement. Contrary to previous findings, length of residence, age, and victimization were not found to be related to patrol participation. Patrol participants were more likely to believe that citizens have some responsibility for crime prevention and to have engaged in more anti-crime activities than nonparticipants. Residents strongly rejected the vigilante analogy and appeared, instead, to define patrol participation as a manifestation of good citizenship.