Taken to its fullest extreme, however, privatization entails private-sector control over all the decisions regarding the use of resources devoted to the protection of persons and property.
In the mid-1960s, Florida Governor Claude Kirk commissioned Wackenhut Services for a $500,000 "war on organized crime"[citation needed] contract that led to more than 80 criminal indictments, including many local politicians and government employees.
[1] In 1993, the Kentwood, Michigan police department signed a three-year contract with a private firm to investigate and recover bad checks.
In some cases, private police are deputized in order to ensure compliance with the law, but continue to be paid by the hour so that money can be saved by releasing them during slow times; as when Kalamazoo, Michigan contracted for street patrol and traffic control with Charles Services.
[3] In the United States, policy manuals for policing are written by Lexipol, a private company, which are then implemented by thousands of law enforcement agencies, particularly small and medium-sized departments.