The new studies that are the focus of this paper have deepened understanding of the origins of the police, their functional roles, their relationship to criminal behavior and public order, police organizations as employers as well as controllers of labor, the police professionalization movement, the complex and unique situating of police in the larger political order, and the growth and change of non-urban police. In addition, research has provide a clearer picture of police as they became regular components of the urban-service section and essential participants in the criminal justice system. The first two sections of this paper summarize the author's book on the police, supplementing its research and analysis with other new and relevant work. The first section of the paper emphasizes social and political innovation represented in policing, and the second section emphasizes that the fundamental aspect of U.S. policing as components of local governments has made police a part of urban services. In the third section, the author turns to new research publications, addressing police as employers and police relations with organized labor. The fourth section turns to those issues in police reform that have attracted historical research, and the fifth section addresses policy issues in the context of a Federal political system. The final section suggests future research needs and directions. 2 figures and 96 notes