THE BASIC CONTENTION TESTED WAS THAT ECONOMIC MODELS OF THE PRODUCTION PROCESS DO NOT APPLY TO POLICING ACTIVITIES BECAUSE THEY NEGLECT THE ROLE THAT CITIZENS (CONSUMERS) PLAY IN THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING PUBLIC ORDER. THIS CONCEPT IMPLIES THAT EFFORTS TO IMPROVE POLICE PRODUCTIVITY THAT FAIL TO INCLUDE CITIZEN INPUTS AND VALUES MAY NOT BE EFFECTIVE. IN THE PRESENT STUDY, DATA RELATING TO PATTERNS OF POLICING IN 60 NEIGHBORHOODS OF 3 CITIES (ST. LOUIS, MO.; ROCHESTER, N.Y.; AND TAMPA-ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., WERE COLLECTED IN THE SUMMER OF 1977. BOTH NEIGHBORHOODS AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS WERE CHOSEN TO PROVIDE DIVERSE COMBINATIONS OF NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND POLICE ORGANIZATIONAL TYPES. DATA COLLECTED INCLUDED OBSERVATIONS OF OVER 5,000 INTERACTIONS BETWEEN POLICE OFFICERS, AND A TELEPHONE SURVEY OF OVER 12,000 CITIZENS. FOUR POLICE-CITIZEN SAFETY PRODUCTION MODELS WERE HYPOTHESIZED: (1) PASSIVE, (2) COPRODUCTIVE, (3) ADVERSARIAL-SELF-PRODUCTIVE, AND (4) OMNIPLEX. NEIGHBORHOODS WERE SELECTED AS THE UNIT OF ANALYSIS. RESULTS SHOWED THAT (1) PATTERNS OF PUBLIC SAFETY PRODUCTION INDICATED SOME RECIPROCITY BETWEEN POLICE AND CITIZENS, AS SHOWN BY THE MODERATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLICE AND CITIZEN PATTERNS; AND (2) CITIZENS AND NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYED A PREDOMINANT ROLE IN THE SHAPING OF POLICE-CITIZEN PRODUCTION OF PUBLIC ORDER. RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT IF A CHANGED PATTERN OF POLICING PRODUCTIVITY IS SOUGHT, ADDRESSING THE EFFORT TO CITIZENS MIGHT YIELD MORE RESULTS THAN WOULD THE TRADITIONAL FOCUS ON REFORMING THE POLICE. DATA FROM THESE NEIGHBORHOODS MAKE POSSIBLE FURTHER EXPLORATION OF THIS CITIZEN-CENTERED APPROACH. TABLES, NOTES, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)