America's Uncontrolled Shadow Police

George Zimmerman has been acquitted; the Trayvon Martin case is brought to an end with this verdict, with the image of an assassin and “wannabe cops on a lynching mission.” Or so they are called by the prosecution service in Florida. Just what the media was waiting for — headlines appeared stating that he constantly reported suspects to the police and that he was once arrested for domestic violence. All of this was classed as irrelevant in his trial; however, one question still remained unanswered: Why was someone like Zimmerman even allowed to go on patrol armed with a gun?

This tragic case highlights the social conflicts present in the United States, especially self-defense rights, gun control and racism. Now another, rather neglected issue is moving into focus — the precarious role of the vigilance committee.

Neighborhood Watch groups are widespread in the U.S. Approximately half of all residential areas have one. Sometimes the group is only used as an organized telephone tree for emergencies, but often there are armed men in uniforms patrolling the area. In times of crisis, when the state has little money for police forces, the vigilance committees are used more and more to fill the supposed security gaps. There are no effective general legal requirements for them. This is how the “shadow police” developed.

The Florida Example

The foundations of these groups go back to the late 1960s, when violent crime was rapidly increasing and issues would consistently lead to riots on the streets. A few advanced police departments in Seattle, Washington and Minneapolis were the first to urge their citizens to unite and create Neighborhood Watch groups, and bit by bit they spread across the whole country. Studies showed that in 1981, 12 percent of all Americans were involved in one of these groups; by the end of the 1980s the figure had already risen to around one in five.

No one knows how many of these watchmen carry firearms. There is about as much special licensing for Neighborhood Watch groups as there are up-to-date statistics on the number of vigilantes and the equipment they possess. “The whole process is unfortunately completely unregulated,” states attorney Byron Warnken, who teaches as a guest lecturer at the University of Baltimore. “They are essentially normal people who are subject to the same laws as every other citizen.”*

For instance, take the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law: According to this law, feeling threatened with life and limb is sufficient reason to kill the assumed perpetrator-to-be, without having to worry about being punished. According to The Washington Post, by now there are laws like this in over 30 U.S. states following the example in Florida.

Better Training and Monitoring

For many it is now time for reform. Neighborhood watchmen, they claim, should go through special training and complete their tasks under supervision. “It is very important to closely observe how a suspect behaves and not what he looks like, which skin color he has or how he is dressed,” says Dennis Rosenbaum, criminal scientist at the University of Illinois in Chicago, and admits, “Sometimes the vigilantes lay blame in advance on the minorities.”*

Nevertheless, experts are agreed that Neighborhood Watch groups can be an effective strategy in preventing violence. “It is a shame the Zimmerman case has cast a shadow,” says Rosenbaum. These programs should not be dismissed harmful: “Most people in our country who take part in these groups are good people. They just want a safer neighborhood.”*

*Editor’s Note: Although accurately translated, the original quote could not be sourced.