Values and organizational culture in policing are important to study beyond the issue of image and general stylistic notions that condition police departments. Current trends in policing toward identifying explicit organizational values illustrate institutional connections among values, culture, and corporate management strategy. To qualitatively investigate systems of institutional identity and values specifically related to relationships between police officers and command staff and between police officers and the public, a study of two very different police departments was conducted. One was a large urban, metropolitan police agency in Philadelphia, and the other was a medium-sized police department in Columbia, South Carolina. Police officers in both departments indicated a lack of common agreement about values and identity among police officers, between police officers and command staff, and between police officers and the public. In Philadelphia, top commanders and the rank-and-file resisted change, partly because they did not want to change and partly because change reasons and methods were unclear. In Columbia, the communication of values was hindered by department bureaucracy and because mechanisms to communicate values effectively were underdeveloped or nonexistent. Findings from both departments point to the importance of the police chief or police commissioner in transmitting and maintaining organizational values. 55 references