Uniformed private security officers come in contact with the public in ways similar to public law enforcement. Their role and the nature of their work resemble that of public police officers. The most common tasks for security departments include protection of executives and employees, tracking and forecasting security threats, alarm monitoring, fraud detection and prevention, investigations, crisis management, and prevention and response to substance abuse. The organizational goals for private police are order maintenance and protection of their clients, albeit a smaller client base than public law enforcement. College students’ perceptions of private security officers were examined in this study. There were some differences within each group overall, but almost all of the individuals had a positive perception of security officers. The findings suggested that differences in attitudes among the various demographic characteristics were similar to the findings from public police research. Male students in the survey held more negative views than female students regarding the nature and goals of security work, as well as the professionalism of security officers. Results indicated that the middle-class respondents had the most negative feelings toward security officers relative to lower classes, followed by those of the upper class. White students were more negative about the nature of security work than minority students. Individuals that had an encounter with a security officer held more negative perceptions regarding the nature and goals of security work, as well as the professionalism of security officers. 4 tables, 1 note, 76 references