THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DESCRIBE THE GENERAL EVALUATIVE CRITERIA AND TO APPLY THEM SPECIFICALLY TO POLICE SERVICES, BOTH AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE METHODOLOGY EMPLOYED AND AS A DEVICE FOR COMPARING THE CONTRACT SYSTEM WITH SELF-PROVISION OF POLICE SERVICES THROUGH A CITY DEPARTMENT. IN THE FIRST SECTION OF THIS REPORT, THE RELEVANT CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING SERVICE DELIVERY THROUGH ALTERNATIVE STRUCTURES ARE PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED ALONG WITH A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE 'EVALUATION' LITERATURE. THE EMPIRICAL INDICATORS NECESSARY FOR ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF CONTRACT LAW ENFORCEMENT ARE THEN PRESENTED. TWO SEPARATE STRATEGIES WERE PURSUED TO DEVELOP THE NECESSARY INFORMATION TO EVALUATE THE MULTIPLE FACETS OF THE CONTRACT STRUCTURE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES. FIRST, DATA WERE COLLECTED ON VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF PERFORMANCE AND CONVENTIONAL STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES WERE EMPLOYED TO ANALYZE THE DATA. SECOND, POLICE CHIEFS, CHOSEN FROM INDEPENDENT CITIES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COUNTIES WHERE COUNTY CONTRACTING IS PREVALENT, WERE INTERVIEWED. THE RESULTS ARE COMPARED WITH THE STATISTICAL RESULTS. FINALLY, SOME TRENDS IN THE CONTRACT LAW ENFORCEMENT PLAN ARE DISCUSSED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)