DESCRIPTIVE MATERIAL EMPHASIZES THE FIRST MINNESOTA STUDY DONE BY A PRIVATE COMPANY. THIS STUDY, THE LARGEST, WAS THE MODEL FOR THE OTHER TWO RELATED PROJECTS. THE ULTIMATE PROJECT GOAL WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SELECTION PROCESS FOR SUBURBAN POLICE DEPARTMENTS. THE JOB TASK ANALYSIS PHASE CONSISTED OF THREE STAGES INCLUDING THE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF JOB-DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION FROM SUBURBAN PATROL OFFICERS, TRANSLATION OF THE INFORMATION INTO KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND PERSONAL REQUISITES, AND RANKING THE ACTIVITIES IN TERMS OF RELATIVE IMPORTANCE AS VIEWED BY CITIZENS. FIELD OBSERVATION, POSTSHIFT INTERVIEWS, AND INCIDENT INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED BY TRAINED JOB ANALYSTS. THE 55 DEPARTMENTS WERE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO SIZE, GROWTH PATTERN OF THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY, AND PROXIMITY TO THE TWIN CITIES MAKING OVERALL JOB ANALYSIS MORE APPLICABLE TO EACH DEPARTMENT. RANDOM SAMPLES WERE THEN DRAWN FROM WITHIN THE CATEGORIES. THE INFORMATION COLLECTED BY FIELD OBSERVATION AND INTERVIEWS WAS LISTED BY AN ACTIVITY CODE AND BY DETAILED NOTES WHICH DESCRIBED THE BEHAVIORS AND PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACTIVITY. THIS LIST TOTALED 115 ITEMS WHICH COULD BE CHECKED TO INDICATE INVOLVEMENT OF ITEMS IN THE ACTIVITY. SIMILAR PROCEDURES WERE FOLLOWED FOR THE OTHER TWO STUDIES. THE RESULT OF THE JOB ANALYSIS PHASE OF THESE STUDIES PROVIDES COMPARATIVE DATA AMONG THE DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES, AMONG THE SAMPLED STRATA, AND AMONG SECTIONS OF THE STATE. AN EXPERT PANEL PROVIDED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING APPROPRIATE SELECTION CRITERIA. THE ANALYSES PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR SEVERAL PROJECTS IN ADDITION TO SELECTION PROCEDURES FOR SUBURBAN POLICE DEPARTMENTS. ALSO, THEY REINFORCED THE VIEW THAT PATROL OFFICERS IN SHERIFF AND POLICE AGENCIES ARE BASICALLY PERFORMING THE SAME TASKS. REFERENCES AND TABULAR STATISTICAL DATA ARE INCLUDED IN THE PAPER. (LWM)