The LEMAS survey has its origin in salary surveys conducted both by the Fraternal order of Police (FOP) and the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD). Beginning in the early 1950's and continuing for two to three decades, both the FOP and the KCPD conducted annual surveys of police departments to develop information about pay and benefits. In 1983-84, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics commissioned a study of law enforcement statistics as a foundation for developing a recurring survey of police agencies. This study established that there was considerable demand for comparative police organizational data captured on a recurring basis from both the police practice and research communities. This state-of-the-art report was followed by a design report that became the foundation of LEMAS. The first LEMAS survey was conducted in 1987. Typically, the LEMAS survey has been two surveys, with the more complete questionnaire distributed to State police and large agencies (the census agencies) and the shorter instrument sent to the sample of smaller agencies. The core content of the instrument -- operations, equipment, personnel, financial matters, policies, and programs -- has remained fairly constant; however, from year to year sections are added and embellished to address known problems. It is clear that the LEMAS sample is robust, and the sample plan is well-executed. Some work is needed on several of the items, particularly calls for service and beat enumeration, and that the survey would be more useful if the agency rank structure were explicated, if the list of functional assignments could be expanded, and if questions could be posed that would reliably capture centralization of authority. Further, there is a need to assess the reliability of the data collected; and the possibility of administering the longer survey to at least the top tier of local police agencies in the sample of smaller agencies should be explored. With the information routinely collected by this program, it is possible to achieve a better understanding of correlates of structure and develop contextual frameworks upon which to organize and interpret the growing literature of police case studies. 6 tables and 22 references