ABSTRACT
Private police are dependent on having the public police available – as a last resource. But it decreases the authority of the private agency to have to turn to the public one. And it is a dangerous strategy. The efficiency of the private police is dependent on the belief held by the public that the ordinary police would give the private agency full support if asked to. While private prisons increase the capacity for incarceration, private police might lead to the reduced use of imprisonment. In this perspective, developments are not that unattractive. A much more problematic effect of private police is that they will leave lower class areas and interests unprotected. Private police, caring for those able and willing to pay, might reduce the interest among the upper classes in having good, public police, and thus leave the other classes and the inner cities in an even worse situation.
