Take Back Your Neighborhood

By ``vigilantism'' Neely, chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, does not mean lynch law or the type of justice dispensed in the Death Wish movie series. Rather, citing the long tradition of public participation in fighting crime in both British and American societies (witness the citizen's arrest in the U.S.), he urges the establishment of volunteer community crime patrols, like the Guardian Angels of New York City, and making neighborhoods the domain of the people who live there. In clear, trenchant prose, Neely shows why the police cannot cope with the rising lawlessness and why legislatures and courts are virtually impotent. Ever practical, he even includes model documents needed by nonprofit crime-fighting corporations to file for tax-exempt status or to assist members in applying for liability insurance. Impressive. (Nov.)