In a basement office that serves as a police headquarters and community center, Oakland Chinatown leaders pored over maps of the neighborhood with representatives from a private security firm last week.

"Many of our merchants are already installing cameras," said Carl Chan, the chairman of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, outlining in highlighter the several blocks that form the core of the area. "Eventually, we will be hiring security guards to patrol Chinatown."

In the wake of the city's laying off 80 police officers last month, Chinatown is leading a new trend in the crime-ridden city: an increase in privately financed public safety. Mr. Chan has asked every business owner to install a street-facing camera. A new Chinatown security force, perhaps staffed by armed guards, could be on the streets as soon as next month, he said.

The layoffs, which helped close a budget deficit of more than $30 million, eliminated a community-policing program that assigned officers to walk their beats and attend neighborhood meetings. Now some residents are pooling resources to restore a law-enforcement presence. The affluent Montclair District in the Oakland Hills and the Kings Estates neighborhood in East Oakland are also looking into private patrols.

Experts say the combination of police and private security that Chinatown is pursuing reflects a new approach to public safety.

"We've been doing policing more or less the same way for a couple hundred years," said Barry Krisberg, a criminologist at the Center for Criminal Justice at the University of California, Berkeley. "We've reached a point financially where we have to start exploring new ways to deliver law enforcement."

Private guards have a limited scope. They can make citizen's arrests but cannot investigate accusations of criminal activity or detain a suspect. Unlike police officers, they are not required to undergo psychological counseling or background checks. Public safety experts say they should play a collaborative role, referring crime reports to the police, and making arrests only rarely.

Chinatown's video surveillance has already led to arrests, and suspects in a killing nearby at Webster and 19th Streets this month were apprehended thanks to video supplied to the police.

Police Chief Anthony Batts lauded the video surveillance efforts, but stopped short of endorsing the hiring of private patrols. "I hope people are not doing that because they are scared," Chief Batts said.

Oakland's budget deficit is expected to grow for the next five years. Its crime rate is among the highest in the state. The City Council hopes to put a $360-per-household parcel tax on the November ballot to restore the officers, avoid more layoffs and balance the budget.

But Mr. Chan indicated the residents of Chinatown might prefer to put that money into a private program. "After paying taxes, it should be the job of the city to provide sufficient police services to each community," he said.