AN OVERVIEW OF POLICE PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ASSESSMENT CENTER APPROACH, INCLUDING EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED BY THE OFFICE OF STRATEGIC SERVICES DURING WORLD WAR II AND BY THE AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY DURING THE 1950'S, OPEN THE TEXT. THE CONTENT OF A TYPICAL 2-DAY ASSESSMENT CENTER IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. DURING THE COURSE OF THE ASSESSMENT CENTER, CANDIDATES FOR PROMOTION TAKE PART IN A VARIETY OF EXERCISES DESIGNED TO PROVIDE ASSESSORS THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVALUATE THE MANAGERIAL POTENTIAL OF EACH CANDIDATE. DETAILS OF EIGHT ASSESSMENT CENTER EXERCISES -- INCLUDING THE INSTRUCTIONS AND MATERIALS NEEDED TO CARRY OUT THE EXERCISES -- ARE PROVIDED. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES USED IN ASSESSMENT CENTERS, FACTORS IN THE CHOICE OF QUALITIES OR DIMENSIONS OF PERFORMANCE TO BE MEASURED IN ASSESSMENT CENTERS, AND COST-BENEFIT CONSIDERATIONS IN THE DECISION TO USE ASSESSMENT CENTERS ARE DISCUSSED. THE RESULTS OF A SURVEY OF 43 PARTICIPANTS IN 4 ASSESSMENT CENTERS IN CALIFORNIA ARE REPORTED; ALMOST 97 PERCENT RATED THE ASSESSMENT CENTER TECHNIQUE AS VERY POSITIVE. RECOMMENDATIONS ARE PRESENTED RELATIVE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT CENTER EXERCISES AND TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSESSMENT CENTERS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. APPENDED MATERIALS INCLUDE JOB PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTION SCALES FOR PATROL OFFICERS, INVESTIGATIVE PERSONNEL, SERGEANTS, AND INTERMEDIATE COMMANDERS, OF USE BOTH IN DETERMINING WHO SHOULD COMPETE IN AN ASSESSMENT CENTER AND IN EVALUATING PERFORMANCE. A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY IS PROVIDED.