IT IS NOTED THAT POLICE FUNCTIONS AND LEGITIMACY HAVE PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE IN COMPLEX, PLURALISTIC URBAN SOCIETIES THAT LACK THE NORMATIVE CONSTRAINTS PROVIDED IN SIMPLER SOCIETIES BY SANCTION AND TRADITION. POLICING IS VIEWED AS A REPRESENTATION OF COERCIVE POTENTIAL, BACKED BY LAW AND CONVENTIONAL INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE IN THE COMMUNITY, AND REFLECTING THE INTERESTS OF THOSE WHO CONTROL AND DEFINE SITUATIONS REQUIRING THE APPLICATION OF AUTHORITY. IN DISCUSSING THE STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POLICING IN ANGLO-AMERICAN SOCIETIES, IT IS INDICATED THAT THE POLICE WHICH REPRESENT, IN SYMBOLIC TERMS, THE MOST STRONGLY VISIBLE REPRESENTATION OF THE STATE, ARE ORGANIZATIONALLY AND LEGALLY BOUND TO APPLY SANCTIONS AGAINST PERSONS IN POPULATIONS OF A DEFINED POLITICAL AREA, ARE EXPECTED TO ACT IN ASYMMETRICAL RELATION TO THE ARMY, AND ACT TO MEDIATE BETWEEN PRIVATE BOUNDED ASSOCIATIONS AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. THEIR FUNCTIONS ARE INDICATED TO BE CRIME-RELATED, ORIENTED TOWARD PUBLIC ORDER MAINTENANCE, AND INVOLVING MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES NOT ENTRUSTED TO OTHER CITIZENS. THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POLICE ARE SYMBOLIZED EXTERNALLY AS A PARAMILITARY BUREAUCRACY, WITH QUASI-LEGAL INTERNAL STRUCTURING. ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS ARE BELIEVED TO BE MADE SITUATIONALLY AND CONTEXTUALLY, WITH WORK AT LEVELS BELOW AND INCLUDING SERGEANT BEING DISCRETIONARY AND CONCEALED FROM CLOSE SUPERVISION. EIGHT STRUCTURAL CONTRADICTIONS OF ANGLO-AMERICAN POLICING, SEEMINGLY INHERENT IN THE PRESENT MANDATE, ARE ALSO DISCUSSED. CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH ON THE POLICE MANDATE IS URGED. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS ALSO PROVIDED. (RCB)