Participating in the study were 93 male police officers from 5 police stations within the Abarbanel Mental Health Center (AMHC) catchment area. They had an average age of 32.1 years, and 75 percent had at least a high school education. From December 1992 to December 1993, 144 of 1,680 subjects were referred to the AMHC by police officers. More than half the police officers had personally known a psychiatric patient in the past, and 20.4 percent graded mental illness as the severest form of disease in medicine. Police officer understanding of case reports was more than adequate. About 38 percent of police officers said they could be friends with psychiatric patients, although 80 percent said they would never marry such a person. Approximately 73 percent of police officers believed that mentally ill patients should not be kept behind walls, but 14.3 percent felt that psychiatric institutions should be cordoned off and continuously guarded. Half the police officers did not think psychiatric patients committed crimes more frequently than healthy individuals. Most police officers did not believe that mental illness was similar to mental retardation and were well aware of the distinctions between a psychiatrist and a general physician, neurologist, or psychologist. Further education of police officers on the needs of mentally ill and psychiatric patients is recommended. 27 references and 2 tables