Neighbourhood watches are not uncommon in the Netherlands. However, it is not common for them to take a proactive stance and detain and pursue suspects. The aim of this paper wasto discover the...Show moreNeighbourhood watches are not uncommon in the Netherlands. However, it is not common for them to take a proactive stance and detain and pursue suspects. The aim of this paper wasto discover the issues of legitimacy of proactive neighbourhood watches in the Netherlands. To do this a case-study of the well-known proactive neighbourhood watches in the Netherlands, Kootwijkerbroek and Neder-Betuwe, was conducted. First, the two networks were analysed using Whelan’s (2015) five levels of analysis. Second, the neighbourhoodwatches are tested along the lines of democratic, legal and social legitimacy. As a result, it became apparent that the proactive neighbourhood watches struggle on all fronts of legitimacy, except local social legitimacy.Show less
