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Despite a recent spate of organizational report cards, relatively little is known about their impact on consumers’ choices or public policy. This study identifies 32 report cards that compare government performance across states in a variety of policy domains. These report cards fall into four categories according to their issuer: governments, commercial enterprises, academics, and advocacy groups. Government‐generated report cards are directed at improving consumer choice and enhancing service quality. Commercial enterprises seek to increase profits and readership. Academics generally take a value‐neutral approach, looking to stimulate public policy debate. Public interest groups, think tanks, and foundations indirectly measure public policy impact by the amount of media attention generated.

While much recent attention has been given to the outsourcing of government services, little is known about the opposite situation in which private organizations retain the services of public workers. Such is the case when off-duty municipal police officers work for private concerns. Police officers have specialized training and law enforcement authority, two commodities in high demand in the private labor market. This analysis seeks to answer three questions about this largely unexplored personnel practice: (1) How much off-duty work is being undertaken? (2) How do departments administer the practice? and (3) What issues and/or conflicts emerge from this blending of public and private spheres. Data were collected through interviews with representatives from the 18 largest police departments in North Carolina and through a review of off-duty policies. The article concludes with suggestions for maximizing the public benefits that accrue when police officers work for private entities.