A typical person targeted for a career criminal program is 29 years old at the time of conviction, is a single male, has 10 prior arrests and 5.5 prior convictions, and is either in the community under supervision from a previous offense or has been in the community 1.9 years since release from the last incarceration. During the calendar year 1976, 77.5 percent of the career criminals had been convicted of robbery and burglary. Statistics indicate that current law enforcement methods promote a high rate of violent crime by providing a small number of criminals with opportunities to repeat their behavior frequently. Law enforcement could be more effective if first offenders having the characteristics likely to produce recidivism could be targeted for special attention. About 300,000 persons are responsible for the bulk of violent behavior in the United States; with proper resource allocation, the 700,000 police in the nation should have a significant impact on reducing the crime committed by these repeat offenders. If modern laboratory techniques were fully applied to recidivism phenomena on a national, regional, and local basis, the identification of the career criminal who offends repeatedly should not be difficult. Statistics are provided for 1976 robbery and burglary rates nationally, career criminal programs, and the percentage of crimes committed by repeat offenders. Footnotes which include references are included.