THE CURRENT WEST GERMAN REQUIREMENT PROFILES USED IN THE SELECTION OF SENIOR POLICE EXECUTIVES ARE THEORETICAL, IMPRECISE, AND PARTLY IRRELEVANT. A LARGE-SCALE PROJECT SPONSORED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OF NORD-RHEIN WESTFALEN IS DESIGNED TO ESTABLISH PRACTICE-ORIENTED SELECTION CRITERIA WITHIN THE NEXT 3-4 YEARS. IN ONE PART OF THAT PROJECT, PARTICIPATING POLICE OFFICERS RECEIVED CATALOGUES CONTAINING 173 ITEMS WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO SELECT THOSE ITEMS WHICH DESCRIBED (1) A POLICE OFFICER OF THEIR ACQUAINTANCE WHO POSSESSED EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE AND LEADERSHIP QUALITIES, (2) A POLICE OFFICER OF THEIR ACQUAINTANCE WHO HAD INFERIOR PERFORMANCE AND LEADERSHIP QUALITIES, AND (3) THE TEST PERSON HIMSELF (I.E., A SELF-EVALUATION). THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PROFILES INDICATED THAT FIVE CONTENT CRITERIA WERE CONSIDERED PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT IN DESCRIBING PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE: HUMAN RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS; ABILITY TO COPE WITH THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OF WORK; LEADERSHIP, PLANNING, AND DECISON-MAKING; WILLINGNESS TO COOPERATE AND BE SUPPORTIVE OF OTHERS; AND PERSISTANCE AND PERSEVERANCE. OF THE 184 OFFICERS WHO TOOK THE TEST, 26.6 PERCENT WERE SUPERIOR POLICE EXECUTIVES, 48.4 PERCENT HAD UPPER-LEVEL POSITIONS, AND 26.1 PERCENT HELD MIDLEVEL POSITIONS. A STUDY OF THE INDIVIDUAL PROFILES REVEALED THAT ON ALL THREE LEVELS THE OFFICERS HAD VERY SIMILAR IDEALS OF A GOOD POLICE OFFICER, THAT THE SELF-EVALUATIONS GREATLY DIFFERED FROM LEVEL TO LEVEL,, AND THAT EVEN THOSE OFFICERS WHO WERE DESCRIBED AS UNSUCCESSFUL POSSESSED A DEFINITE PROFILE. THE STUDY CONFIRMED THAT NOT SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE BUT LEADERSHIP IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN SELECTING HIGHRANKING POLICE OFFICERS. A COPY OF THE ITEM CATALOGUE AND A STATISTICAL CHART ARE APPENDED. --IN GERMAN. (SAJ)