[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Who is "they"? This isn't one group, it's an absolute tonne of them, and for every one that's "learned to get it right" there's another blundering along / breaking the law themselves / actually assaulting people / targetting the WRONG people. For every live stream that goes viral another have-a-go-hero has the idea slap his mind that he should call his mates, lace up his steel toecaps and give it a go himself.

One of these groups that I personally know of targetted, "exposed" and harassed what turned out to be a 16 year old boy who thought he was meeting a 15 year old girl. I keep mentioning this on these threads, and it keeps being ignored, because people just don't want to accept that these groups are making HUGE ERRORS plenty of the time. This is within the last 6 months to a year. The "hunting" group then found themselves having their property vandalised and physical threats made against them... and tbqfh I can understand why. 4 burly football hooligans streaming a 16-year-old lad on social media and bellowing "paedophile" in his face.

Is online grooming a problem? Yes. But this is NOT the answer, and I worry deeply that people are going to consider this a "good enough" answer, with the failings just "collateral damage", and no one is going to bother actually seeking better solutions that don't involve vigilante justice. If we have to resort to vigilantism to solve our societal problems then we are in some serious, serious ****... the fact that the police are accepting / endorsing it just makes it even more scary. It's not something we should ever accept.

I'll say again; civilisations for thousands of years have had laws against vigilantes for very good reasons. Amateurs are going to make mistakes, hurt the wrong people, or get themselves hurt. It is inevitable.

You keep highlighting this law... which law are they breaking adopting this practice?

Should we as a civilised society accept grooming?...I see your point on the groups that are not acting within the perimeters of current police practice however, it is not fair to suggest that civil enforcement cannot be a valued resource for an already stretched service.

Throughout history there have been organisations that work in conjunction with the police, there's a whole 3rd sector of volunteers that ensure the safety of communities and society as a whole. Why would this area not benefit from the involvement of the public if coordinating with neighbourhood policing teams?