Tonga police are calling on communities to establish neighbourhood watch groups.
This comes after 17 men were arrested at the weekend for a range of robberies of homes and businesses in Nuku'alofa.
Matangi Tonga reports the acting Police Commissioner Lau'aitu Tupouniua saying police want the community to step up and give an effective response to the fight against crime.
She says the criminality amounts to organized crime because it involved more than person and was planned and co-ordinated.
The acting commissioner says the response has to involve co-operation between the police and the public.
