The research is the culmination of a two-phase project including a literature review, research design and instrument development, and data gathering and analysis. Data were gathered by observing complaint room procedures and monitoring citizen calls for service, by accompanying patrol officers during shifts, and by interviewing patrol officers, representatives of referral agencies, and citizens who had been referred. Three reports from the second phase of this project are summarized in this volume. The first report describes sampling procedures, instrument development, and the ways in which the form was administered. The second describes the distribution of demands on the police. It emphasizes the importance of detailed call classification and discusses information calls, an often overlooked portion of demand. It then examines the effects of caller characteristics on the distribution of calls for service. The report discusses the role of police telephone operators in channeling service requests, classifies their responses, charts response tendencies across the range of calls received, and studies operator referral reports. The third report describes referral agency characteristics, including services rendered, staffing and funding patterns, and client relations. It then examines patrol officer referral activities, noting the frequency with which referrals are made during police-citizen encounters, and discusses officer attitudes toward referral and officer awareness of community agencies. Results indicate that referral has not been explicitly defined, that few departments have clear policies outlining situations in which referral is appropriate, that operators have not often been considered referral agents, and that patrol officer referral is infrequent. Referrals by both operators and patrol officers are usually determined by the nature of the problem regardless of citizen behavior patterns or characteristics, officer attitudes, or the presence of other personnel at the scene. Department referral policies are generally unwritten or nonexistent, and officers and operators refer at their own discretion. The study recommends that departments improve complaint room procedures and upgrade operator status, conduct regular analyses of the full range of citizen demands, and develop a clear conception of the meaning of police referral and of departmental policies and guidelines for its use. Study data in tabular form and citations of four related projects are included. (Author abstract modified)