A study of nearly 500 police chief executives from throughout the country, conducted in 1982 and 1983 by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) contributed substantially to law enforcement research. The respondents' mean age was 49 and they had averaged over 17 years in their present department, while over 90 percent had some prior police experience. Over half had obtained a baccalaureate degree and 25 percent had graduate degrees; however, the percentages of college graduates differed markedly by region. The respondents overwhelmingly chose executive development training programs over other methods to prepare their successors; the three most important duties listed were executive's role in management, legal problems and issues, and personnel management. Transformational leadership also requires a leader to envision the organization's future direction and development. Future police leaders should try to allow for as many different types of jobs and experiences as possible. In addition, they need to develop contacts with community and professional figures in order to gain exposure to a wide variety of opinions and views. 8 references.