OPINION - Citizen policing has transformed America, so why can't it happen in London?

For many, the Guardian Angels probably seem mythological rather than historical, and even though they still exist (in a much-abbreviated form), they seem like a part of New York’s past.

Founded in 1979 as a civilian crime-watch organisation, the Angels soon became iconic, swarming around Manhattan in their red berets, red jackets, or white T-shirts with the red Guardian Angels logo of an eye inside a pyramid on a winged shield… operating like benign vigilantes. The very idea of them was probably as meaningful as their actual presence, as it made both residents and visitors believe that there was a group out on the streets actually looking after them.