The fieldwork on which this report is based was conducted between November 1994 and June 1995. Documentary investigation included an examination of police statistics, relevant public documents, and incident records completed by private security guards. Semistructured interviews and informal discussions were conducted with 20 local councilors, local community and tenants' representatives, Neighborhood Housing Office administrators and housing managers, community safety coordinators, private security officers and manager, and senior police and beat officers. The study illustrates the changing nature of the functional and institutional links between public police, the local authorities, and the private security sector. It increases understanding of the emerging cooperative character of low-level drug enforcement in Britain, and it contributes to the current debate regarding the regulation of the private security sector. The latter includes a discussion of the implications of intelligence gathering by private police that is shared with the public police ("grey policing"). 42 references