Service Contracts

There have been a variety of proposals to solve the presently divisive pattern of metropolitan and regional law enforcement.' Of these proposals, the police service contract offers the most feasible and practical solution. By. this device smaller police jurisdictions contract formally with a larger police agency for the provision of law enforcement services. No claim is made here that this type of voluntary governmental arrangement offers the ideal solution. This arrangement does offer, however, an alternative to the presently confused pattern of police organization: an alternative which is both simple in application, economically feasible, and frequently politically practical. Furthermore, this approach if properly structured-recognizes the principle of self-determination and leaves to the smaller jurisdiction a large degree of discretionary power. Basically, proposals for the reorganization of metropolitan police efforts have included the following objectives:. Simplification of metropolitan law enforcement patterns. enlargement of police administraitive areas; and 3. integration and coordination of police efforts throughout the