In response to the establishment and controversial actions of the organisation People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD), IDASA's Public Opinion Service undertook a two- year study of citizen action against crime on the Cape flats. The study focused principally on the dynamics which led to the rise of Pagad in the Western Cape. It examined people’s perceptions of crime, their evaluations of the police and courts, and their willingness to co-operate with such institutions. It also examined the attitudes of people to the law and to PAGAD, as well as their willingness to take various forms of legal and illegal collective action against crime.