THE FIRST NATIONAL INVENTORY OF THE NATION'S LARGEST MUNICIPAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS (OVER 300 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES) TO DETERMINE THE RESOURCES AND SERVICES DEVOTED TO POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS WAS CONDUCTED IN 1974. SINCE MOST OF THE POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS (PCR) UNITS WERE NEW (ONLY 20 PERCENT OF THE DEPARTMENTS REPORTED UNITS MORE THAN 6 YEARS OLD), IT WAS APPROPRIATE TO SURVEY THE DEPARTMENTS AGAIN IN 1978. THIS IS A REPORT OF THE RESULTS OF THIS SECOND SURVEY. THE SURVEY WAS REVISED AND EXPANDED AND SENT TO ALL DEPARTMENTS WITH 300 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES. QUESTIONNAIRES WERE SENT TO THE CHIEFS OF POLICE OF THESE DEPARTMENTS, WITH A LETTER EXPLAINING THE INTENT AND SCOPE OF THE SURVEY AND SEEKING THEIR COOPERATION IN FACILITATING ITS ACCURATE COMPLETION. THERE WERE 85 RESPONDENTS, YIELDING A RESPONSE RATE OF 54 PERCENT. RESPONDENTS REPRESENTED ALL GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS OF THE COUNTRY AND MUNICIPAL, COUNTY, AND COMBINED POLICE DEPARTMENTS. APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THE RESPONDENTS REPRESENTED DEPARTMENTS THAT HAD A POPULATION GREATER THAN 300,000 UNDER THEIR JURISDICTION. THE REMAINDER WERE BETWEEN 50,000 AND 249,000. RSULTS OF THE SURVEY SUGGEST THAT PCR UNITS HAVE BECOME AN ESTABLISHED PART OF POLICE DEPARTMENTS, ALTHOUGH THE TREND IS TOWARD SMALLER UNITS THAN REPORTED IN THE PREVIOUS SURVEY. RECRUITS ARE TRAINED IN PCR. MOST PCR UNITS, HOWEVER, FUNCTION WITHOUT A CITIZENS' ADVISORY GROUP. THE TYPICAL UNIT SPENDS MUCH OF ITS TIME PROVIDING POLICE-SCHOOL LIAISON SERVICES AND IS BEGINNING TO FOCUS ON CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAMMING. IT PERFORMS A VARIETY OF RESEARCH, INCLUDING COMMUNITY RELATIONS PLANNING, AND PUBLIC INFORMATION SERVICES. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)