In the first two chapters, the editors discuss the concepts and analytical issues in the examination of alternative policing styles. Through the concept of "alternative," the editors suggest choices in policing styles other than the traditional state policing mechanism. "Style" is a way of doing police work as well as the manner of its representation. In subsequent chapters policing styles are described in the context of particular historical, cultural, and situational contexts. They include a description and assessment of the Village Public Safety Officer program in isolated rural Alaskan villages and broad community involvement in crime prevention and control in China under the "comprehensive administration" concept. Other policing styles discussed are community-oriented policing in urban Indonesia, citizen and citizen-police patrols in the Philippines, and policing in rural Peru. Remaining examples of alternative policing styles are the social control exercised by drug gangs in lower class neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), vigilantism in Tanzania, policing in Northern Ireland, death squads in South Africa, self-management policing in Yugoslavia, and private security agencies in Italy. The concluding two chapters provide a cross-cultural perspective of alternative policing styles. A selected 441-item bibliography