The research would identify a broad range of problematic situations police typically confront and set research priorities among those situations. It would further intensively analyze one type of problematic situation and identify the alternative ways in which police now handle and could handle such a situation. Researchers would observe police officers in the actual handling of the targeted situation and design an experiment that would systematically test the relative effectiveness of the alternative police actions. Research objectives will be pursued through a series of discussions with patrol officers, a senior police scholar, and graduate students serving as staff to the research committee. A task force will develop hypotheses, and the staff will test them through observations of police activities and analyses of police records. The experimental design developed by the task force will be used to solicit additional funds for the project's second phase. This proposal includes a research schedule and major milestones, a description of research products, an organization and management plan, collaborative arrangements, research team qualifications, and a budget. 94 references and an appended instrument used to record field observations. (Author abstract modified)