The police can choose to see the increasing privatization of public justice as either a threat or an opportunity. Competition from private sources may spell the end of public policing as we know it, but it may also be the goal that prods departments toward delivering the kind of police service that people want. Community policing may be an affordable alternative to the privatization trend. The crucial question facing police agencies in dealing with the privatization trend are listed, and the underlying issues and how to balance conflicting interests are discussed. Conflicts arise in all areas such as what legal and ethical responsibility does a private security firm have in sharing information about illegal activity discovered, and the fact that private security guards need not adhere to the same procedural restraints as the public police force.