text: Noted by me for one. I suppose I could go find some cites. But it's sorta the whole point of the social contract and rule of law. We surrender our right of private violence against those who wrong us in return for the assurance that the state will use its monopoly on retributive violence to seek justice for us. Eliminating legal private vigilantism and replacing it with public law enforcement doesn't really protect the vigilante, they are by definition capable of doing so themselves, this rule of law primarily protects the accused offender. Again, this is Philosophy/Criminology 101 stuff. I can recommend some reading...