Futures research is a discipline that addresses potential societal changes in original and novel ways. No other discipline gives the same degree of significance to ideas, imagination, and conceptualization. An essential component of futures research is forecasting. The mission of a police futures unit is to act as "barometer and compass" for the agency's decisionmakers. By providing a correct reading of trends and social distress signals, the futures unit can point an agency in the right direction. A futures capability, unlike conventional planning, requires special features. Four factors must be considered in establishing a futures unit: its mission, staffing, equipment, and operating environment. The police agencies with futures units are listed for Australia, Canada, England, Italy, Northern Ireland, China, the United States, and West Germany. 13 notes.