The study found that the Institute had not been the catalyst or sponsor of a first-rate and significant research program commensurate with either its task or resources. It had some successes with individual projects and has begun to develop some basic and vital data and a research community, both of which had previously been inadequate for society's needs. However, structural and political constraints too often deflected the Institute from its true mission -- to develop valid knowledge about crime problems. The study also concluded that, given those same constraints and extrapolating its marginal improvements over the years, the Institute in its present form was not likely to become a significant and quality oriented research agency. However, there is a need for a program of research on crime problems that is national in scope and therefore for a national institute of law enforcement and criminal justice supported by the Federal Government. Consequently, the study recommended both structural and conceptual reordering of the Institute itself and of its research agenda. Notes, figures, tables, references, case studies, appendixes