First, what should be the relationship between the community and the formal justice
system? The Edgewood group operated completely autonomously. Obviously, this distance from a formal institution has implications for oversight. In other situations, autonomous
community groups have been charged with racism (Skogan, 1988) and vigilantism
(Weisburd, 1988). For example, all-jewish citizen patrols in Brooklyn's Crown
Heights have been known to target blacks, in some cases, exercising summary justice on
the street (Mitchell, 1992). Also, when community members involve themselves directly
with criminals, they are placing themselves at risk, probably without the necessary preparation.
What, if any, situations are inappropriate for citizen groups to handle? As yet,
there are no clearly delineated roles for community members