ABSTRACT
Crime and its control are central concerns in the lives of most Tanzanians. From the 1970s onward, petty and violent crime have increased, while local and statelevel initiatives have sought complimentary, contradictory, competing, and conflictual strategies to control burgeoning crime rates. State-level initiatives have focused primarily on policing and bureaucratic legal norms, while many locally based strategies have centered on community policing, informal solutions, customary law, and, at times, mob justice. Accordingly, vigilante groups, whether structured or impromptu, are flourishing in spite of an ambivalent and, on occasion, openly conflictual relationship with various state agencies. The dynamic is further complicated by the successful reduction in crime in some areas as a result of vigilante actions.
