The police are the juvenile's first point of entry into the juvenile justice system. Police responses may be unofficial or official and informal or formal. In general, the decisionmaking process follows a graded system, similar to that used for adult offenses. In cases of minor offenders, who comprise a majority of police contacts, the specific offense becomes less important than the individual officer's choice of action. Factors weighing upon officers' decisions in these cases include the juvenile's attitude and demeanor, race, sex, and prior police involvement. Regardless of these factors, only three approaches are available for resolving the encounter, release of the juvenile, custody and court petition, or informal or formal bureaucratic adjustment. In some locales, particularly larger ones, police may have special units dealing with formal juvenile adjustments. Such units, including three in New York, serve the primary functions of prevention, screening, and investigation. While the stated goal of many of these units is diversion, recent years have seen an increase in formal police dispositions, although they still are less frequent than informal dispositions. 1 table, 1 figure, 65 discussion questions, and 40 references.