FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS INVESTIGATION, CRISIS WAS DEFINED AS A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISEQUILIBRIUM IN A PERSON WHO CONFRONTS A HAZARDOUS CIRCUMSTANCE CONSTITUTING A CRUCIAL PROBLEM WHICH CANNOT BE ESCAPED OR SOLVED THROUGH CUSTOMARY PROBLEMSOLVING RESOURCES. IF A CRISIS REACTION OCCURS SEVERAL IMPLICATIONS MAY EXIST FOR POLICE: THE VICTIM MAY NEED SPECIAL HELP FROM THE POLICE; HOW THE CRISIS IS HANDLED MAY AFFECT THE VICTIM'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE POLICE; AND THE CRIME FIGHTING ABILITY OF THE POLICE MAY BE IMPAIRED. THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY INCLUDED THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF SCALING PROCEDURES FOR JUDGING THE LEVEL OF CRISIS; ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF THE CRISIS LEVELS ON POLICE OPERATIONS; ASSESSMENT OF POLICE SENSITIVITY; ASSESSMENT OF RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF CRISIS ON THE VICTIM OR RELATIVE'S LIFE; DETERMINATION OF A NEED FOR BETTER POLICE APPROACHES; AND DETERMINATION OF WHETHER VICTIM SATISFACTION WITH POLICE DEPENDS ON THE LEVEL OF CRISIS AND THE DEGREE OF POLICE SENSITIVITY. THREE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN BIRMINGHAM, ALA.; FORT WORTH, TEX.; AND ROCHESTER, N.Y. WERE SELECTED AS DATA COLLECTION SITES; DATA COLLECTION TOOK PLACE IN 1977. SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW GUIDES WERE USED TO DETERMINE WHETHER A PROBLEM EXISTS IN RELATION TO POLICE INTERACTIONS WITH RELATIVES OF HOMICIDE VICTIMS AND VICTIMS OF ROBBERIES AND BURGLARIES, AND WHETHER THE APPLICATION OF CRISIS INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES BY POLICE MIGHT BE AN EFFECTIVE SOLUTION TO THAT PROBLEM. PRIMARY DATA SOURCES INCLUDED THE CRIME VICTIM OR RELATIVE, THE RESPONDING PATROL OFFICER, AND THE DETECTIVE CONDUCTING THE FOLLOWUP INVESTIGATION. INTERVIEWS FOCUSED ON INCIDENTS OF BEHAVIOR WHICH WERE OBSERVABLE AND IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO BE REMEMBERED. BASED ON SURVEY RESPONSES, SERIOUS CRISIS REACTIONS ARE ESTIMATED IN 10-15 PERCENT OF ROBBERY CASES AND 8-12 PERCENT OF BURGLARY CASES; ESTIMATES ARE TENTATIVE DUE TO THE SMALL SAMPLE SIZE. WHILE CRISIS IS MORE FREQUENT IN ROBBERY, BURGLARY APPEARS TO HAVE A GREATER IMPACT ON THE VICTIM'S SUBSEQUENT LIFE. CRISIS RESPONSES WERE MORE FREQUENT AMONG WOMEN THAN MEN. VICTIMS THOUGHT WELL OF THE POLICE RESPONDING TO THEIR NEEDS; POLICE WERE NOT INSENSITIVE. IT WAS ALSO DISCOVERED THAT THE POLICE FORCE MUST OFTEN ACT AS A REFERRAL AGENCY, SINCE IN MANY CASES NO ONE ELSE ROUTINELY CONTACTS CRIME VICTIMS. IN THE FUTURE, THE LONG-TERM RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF VICTIMIZATION SHOULD BE STUDIED; A LARGE-SCALE DATA BASE SHOULD BE CREATED; SYSTEMATIC STUDIES OF BURGLARY MUST BE MADE; AND A REVIEW OF VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS NATIONWIDE SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN. DATA INSTRUMENTS, CHARTS AND GRAPHS, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (JSP)