Such cooperation becomes increasingly essential with the growth of the private security industry, even though many police officers see rising expenditures for private security as a disturbing trend toward the privatization of entire city police departments. The authors contend that police administrators should recognize the distinctions between functions that can best be performed by sworn police officers and other functions that can be more productively handled by civilians or private firms under contract. They discuss types of activities performed by police and sheriff departments that can be transferred to the private sector, methods of comparing costs between public and private police services, advantages of contracting with the private sector, and issues to be confronted by government officials when preparing to contract for private police services. In addition, the authors make concrete suggestions on steps to be taken in planning and contracting for police services. Appendixes identify sources of information about private police services, government administrators who contract with private security companies, police activities and necessary skills, and sites with experience in providing private police services. Endnotes, tables, and figures