ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how crime and insecurity are confronted by three communities in Hout Bay, Cape Town, that are characterised by widely different socio-economic conditions and racial compositions. Hout Bay neighbourhood watch (HBNW) was established in April 2005 by members of the Hout Bay Community Police Forum (HBCPF) who had tired of the yearlong conflict with Hout Bay SAPS (South African Police Service). The chapter explores each community's ability to generate collective capacity to provide enhanced policing in their own neighbourhoods. It argues that two factors are important to the effectiveness of everyday policing. First, the ability of a group to form a shared identity that is capable of generating and sustaining collective capacity for action. Second, the ability of a group to network with other security actors and gain access to external resources and technologies that can aid it in the pursuit of its policing agenda.
