Ordinary citizens of that area didn't do everything they could to stop the psychotic killer, they felt helpless and afraid. It was the police, the staff of the Zodiac's favorite newspaper, and the puzzle geeks who deciphered some of his codes, who were doing everything in their power! Which wasn't enough, the Zodiac eluded them all and presumably died without ever being prosecuted.
The internet has actually allowed ordinary citizens to participate in finding criminals, in a way that wasn't possible in the 1960s or 1970s, when all people could do was to report suspicious activity and hope the police took it seriously. Now there's Websleuths and other such discussions, not that much useful has come out of all those people trying to involve themselves. As I understand it, mostly people make shit up and pass rumors and lies around as facts, and harass people who have some association with the case, and actually make it harder for the police and FBI to do their jobs.
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