The basic trust of this study is to determine the impact of the use of vigilante groups and informants in the control of crime in Isiala Mbano Local Government area of Imo State, Nigeria. This study was descriptive in nature. 749 copies of questionnaire were retrieved from the general public, 15 sets of questionnaire were distributed and retrieved from Rank and File police personnel in each of the three communities selected for the study. Three senior police officers and three Key Informants from each of the communities were interviewed making a total sample of 812 respondents. Data was collected through questionnaire and interview (KIP). Chi-square statistical tool was used to analyze the hypotheses formulated for the study. The findings revealed that vigilante groups are effective in the control of crime and that use of informants by the police did not in any way contribute to crime control. Based on the findings, the study recommended that vigilante groups should be official recognized by the authority and provided with adequate working tools to work, the activities of vigilante groups should be monitored and by the formal police organization to make sure they are not overzealous in the discharge of security duties, the police should develop a water tight method of protecting the identities of informants to encourage more informants in the community, and a good reward system should be established by the communities to encourage the vigilante groups to effectively discharge their duties.
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