The UK's chief representative of rank and file police officers has launched a vicious attack on what he sees as plans to "privatise" elements of the service.
West Midlands and Surrey forces have talked to security firms about transferring some duties as part of an effort to cut costs.
According to the Home Office, private companies would not have sole charge of criminal investigations and could not make arrests.
However Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, writes in a blog post for the Huffington Post UK that he is "outraged" by plans which he says will "strip an already bare police service even further without any care for the impact on the public".
The reforms would leave the public to be protected by a "mass of glorified bouncers", McKeever said.
He said in the post: "The only people to blame for the demise of the service are David Cameron and his government … we are undoubtedly facing a major moral conflict."
"Not surprisingly, the priority of private companies within policing will be profit and not people, and we must not forget, they are answerable to their shareholders and not to the public we serve.
"If core policing roles such as patrols and the power to detain are handed over to employees from a private firm, what will we be left with? The public will be left with a less accountable, less resilient, less experienced mass of glorified bouncers who are surrounded by a weakened, defeated and demoralised police service."
"How will we follow a conviction through? How will we gain intelligence? How will we guarantee an impartial service with public safety as the number one priority if forces choose to go down this route? The simple answer is; we can’t."
Accusing the government of "ignorance" and of meddling "in things they clearly don't understand".
"We are heading for catastrophic consequences," he adds.
McKeever called on ministers to involve police officers in its plans.
"Police officers deserve more respect," McKeever said. "We are already making a significant contribution, we’ve accepted a two-year pay freeze, likely to see our pension contributions increase, donated almost £400 million to the economy and we are set to lose 34,000 police officers and support staff over the next four years.
"All of this on top of the biggest over-haul of our terms and conditions in our history."
"We simply cannot provide more for less and if government think private companies will, then they really are more reckless and blinkered than I have given them credit for."
Elements of the policy were defended by other senior police figures, however.
Ann Barnes, chair of the Kent Police Authority, wrote in a separate blog for the Huffington Post UK:
"There are many police tasks that do not need to be carried out by warranted officers and many forces employ their own support staff to undertake them. Surrey and West Midlands are exploring all options and trying to ascertain just where the limits for non-police bodies should be in providing elements of this important public service."