Prosecution association

A prosecution association is a private organization that investigates crimes against its members and prosecutes the offenders. They have largely been replaced by public prosecutors. Alexander Tabarrok writes in The Voluntary City, "Prosecution associations operated much like insurance companies. When a member was robbed the association would take on the costs of printing handbills, placing newspaper ads, offering rewards, hiring detectives and lawyers, and so forth. Crucially, one of the key goals of the prosecution association was to recover stolen property. The private good of property recovery was thus tied with the public good of deterrence." Tabarrok notes that merchants would post signs indicating their membership in an association in order to deter thieves.