Police state of the nation.

In many Countries civilian spy forces have been established and initiated with local, municipal and federal agencies to help stop the threat of terrorism and other crimes in major cities.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/islamic-recruits-to-help-spy-force-tackle-terrorism-at-home/2005/10/16/1129401145630.html

http://www.citizencorps.gov/programs/

As part of this function people are being recruited from all over the place in many ways. Some are volunteering to help keep an eye on things. http://www.toronto.ca/city_watch/about_citywatch.htm

Some are being forced to become spys in their own communities, either through snitch programs for drugs, or programs to keep n eye on terrorism and crime.

Some are being required to keep an eye on things as part of their job or civic responsibility.
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spying/26262prs20060727.html

What this means is that many cities in one way or another have become mobalized citizen spy forces, where people are placed on lists, followed around by others, and their activities are reported on by members of these citizen spy force.
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/22048/

The benefits of large scale programs like this is it makes it mandatory for people to do their duties and protect the cities where they live by keeping an eye on things. It helps people feel committed and united and gives a great sense of community. It also has the potential for scouting out and keeping a potential eye on things that might be happening in cities that might be of a detrimental nature.
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_01.18.01/news/cops.php

The downside of this is that it has the potential to be abused. http://www.trackedinamerica.org/

There are people that are being made, not asked, but forced to become spies for their community, and country.

There are people that are being targeted for these lists that are innocent. They have no idea that they are being targeted, and this could affect their lives for many years to come, as they become public enemy number one for no good reason. Affecting their ability to travel, get jobs, and how they are treated in their day to day. http://www.elliott.org/archives/000013watchlist.php

There are also going to be vigilante elements within these organisations, who wish to take the laws into their own hands. Because they are being supported by local and federal agencies, they are going to feel empowered and emboldened to take action and perform activities that might be outside of the guidelines that they have been given.

You are also going to have elements that abuse these programs by targeting innocent individuals, who have been put on these lists for no truly legitimate reasons.
Once an individual is placed on such a list, it might be difficult if not near impossible to get off such a list. Often agencies that hold such list will give polite replies, while giving targets of these list the run around. This can happen for years. In the mean time the person will not be allowed to fly, hold specific jobs, and may have other inconviences. Due to the sensitive nature of some of these programs, and the need for a certain degree of confidentiality some agencies will not openly discuss the fact that such programs are running in major cities. Newspapers often will also be forbidden or discouraged from writing about these programs.

The other complications that many of these programs bring, is that they have the potential for turning cities into police states. In some cities the number of people taking part could be as high as 1 in 25 or as low as 1 in 50. These numbers are stunning and startling, because it means that some cities have become more of a spy state than the former East German Stati, who employed a figure like 1 in 67 in it's spy force.

The problem is if these programs are being abused, unless you are aware that these programs exist you might not be able to find the help and support that you need.
In America you have a centralised program called Citizen Corp. It's run by the government. Underneath this program all are a variety of smaller programs. I did not see the weed and seed program included on their list of programs however, and weed and seed plays a very big role in many cities.

In a major Canadian city like Toronto you have the City Watch program which is comprised of municipal workers, and their counter parts. I also am aware that this program since 9/11 has been expanded, and many others have been asked to take part in this program. This program includes fire fighters, cops, mail carries, librarians and others that support them, including
many politicians, because the program is government funded.

The CSIS in Canada also has a spy program, it has volunteers, however in recent times there have been some articles about them trying to force members of some communities to become informants for this program against their will. Wither this program and the city watch are one in the same either under a different name, or under a different umbrella has been more difficult to ascertain. However under the freedom of information act, some more details or clarity might be obtained.

In the UK, there is also a similar program and most recently taxi drivers were also asked to take part in this program in keeping an eye on things in the UK. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2575923.stm
Wither the cities have been turned into potential police states there as well is not yet clear.

The potential of these programs to do a great deal of good and protect the cities that they are patrolling is without question. There are not enough police, or secret service personal to patrol whole entire cities, and so there would have to be some call to action on citizens of these countries. However on the flip side, you have people in these programs who were potential hazards to others in their communities. You have people that are racist, sexist, homophobic, and who are very against dissenting opinions. Within programs like the above mentioned their is unfortunately so much potential for unchecked vigilantiism that it's hard to even describe or comprehend.

I think it's true that with great power comes great responsibility. You are empowering some who will take this duty seriously and respectfully, however on the flip side, you are giving power to those who will undoubtedly abuse it and others under the guise of serving the country.

If you live in America one and find yourself to be the target of such a program, you could potentially contact the American Civil liberties union. That might be a good place to start. There is no guarentee that they can offer help or assistance, however they more than likely will have spoken to others who are also experiencing some of the same targeting and maybe able
to offer assistance or guidance.

It's important to be safe in the cities that we live in, however it's even more important to not let our concerns about the war on drugs, terrorism, and other crime strip away our rights to privacy. It's important now more than ever to ensure that our civil liberties and the rights of others are protected. More and more we are becoming what many are terming a police state. http://www.hermes-press.com/police_state.htm
http://infowars.com/articles/ps/nsa_whistleblower_warns_domestic_spy
ing_us_decay_ps.htm

We need safety, but this will do us very little good if we have no rights with that safety. We must find a way in these times to balance both and not let our fears get the better of us, and turn into societies that we no longer recognise as our own.

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~Benjamin_Franklin