The surveys were conducted at 3-month intervals over a 9- month period. The questions addressed broad measures of public satisfaction with police performance, the amount of contact the public has with the police, and their views of these encounters. An ethnic "booster" sample was included in each sweep of the survey so as to compare the needs and expectations of various ethnic groups regarding police services. Approximately 75 percent of the sample consistently rated the police as doing a "fairly" or "very good" job. Only 15 percent reported that the police are doing a "poor" job. Nine out of 10 people whose last contact with the police had been very satisfactory rated the police as doing a very good or fairly good job. Of those who reported they were very dissatisfied with the police handling of their most recent contact with them, half felt that the police do a fairly poor or very poor job. Although 76 percent of white respondents reported that the police do a very good or fairly good job, the figure dropped to 62 percent for Asians and 52 percent for Afro- Caribbean respondents. Twenty-five percent of ethnic minority respondents felt that the police do a fairly poor or very poor job, compared to only 15 percent of white respondents. 25 tables, 5 references, and appended survey questions and methodology