This is very worrisome. Particularly if the thief has been forced into crime as a victim of circumstance and misfortune, it is inhumane to target him/her as a vigilante.
That's not an argument for or against vigilantism, just that justice is tricky.
It's kind of deifying the official. If the official process sucks, then it sucks. At least there is some process in place to hold the official justice system accountable only counts (in my eyes) if and when that works.
I think there's a stretch of an analogy to the current refugee crisis. On one hand we have this official set of ideals in laws and institutions. The principles are clear enough. Refugees need to be assessed fairly and settled in safe places.
In the other hand we have selfishness, bigotry and/or genuine practical objections mean that these do not produce a result. The reality is that taking refugees from some distant war on a different continent is politically a landline.
So, the official establishment ties itself in bureaucratic knots. Throttles and avoids the rock and the hard place.
Lets not forget that it's all people. Cops are people. Judges, Presidents, people.
Just because a system is not formalized doesn't means it works worse.
Also, a vigilante system can have a system to hold itself accountable as well.
Legal systems become corrupt and unaccountable, giving rise to vigilante systems. Those that survive long enough begin to improve as those involved seek to better the new systems. Eventually they reach the point of being the new legal system which slowly corrupts itself til it is beyond being held accountable, at which point it reverts back to a vigilante system that competes with new ones.
Perhaps the only issue is we should consider a different name from a vigilante systems that arise due to a corrupted legal system not meeting the needs of the populace vs the legal system itself that falls into a state where it is no longer held accountable.
The mob had the wrong house.
It is only when we see this problem in the private sector, that we are then allowed to comment on how this is a problem and therefore private police can never work. /s
Even first world death penalty cases aren't a 100% certain, but we still murder the accused.
A legal justice system often ends up not being justice at all either. As some will point out, it is a legal system more than a justice system.
What then is the difference between a vigilante justice system and a legal system? It seems to me to be an issue of popularity, not of results nor legitimacy.
What next PIRA style Kneecapping or a 50/50 for those in the community you don't like