The aim of the paper is to identify an environment, comprised of trends and events that occur, which departments can proactively influence and even control. The trends used in this study included level of emphasis by agency on values and mission statements, effect of violent crime on perceived safety, level of expression of community expectations by the public, level of community involvement in developing performance standards, and use of community-based policing. The most probable events to impact on those trends were identified as: establishment of a civilian commission to oversee local police as required by law, rapid increases in in-service training costs, a 25-percent increase in crime rates, greater demands by community for input on officer deployment, and decriminalization of property crime misdemeanors. Based on this analysis, strategic management and transitional management plans were outlined. 20 appendixes