The study involved the testing of 844 candidates for law enforcement positions in various police departments throughout Vermont. All were in communities of less than 50,000 population. Recognizing that the MMPI is not appropriate for psychiatric diagnosis and labeling, when a scale was unusually high, the person's response pattern was examined more closely to assess what self-reported behaviors prompted the scale elevation. Through knowledge about rural law enforcement and human behavior, a clinical judgment was made about the risk factor of successful performance. Further, a panel of experienced police officers examined the MMPI for behavioral items that might predict future behavioral problems or substandard performance. Questionnaires to police chiefs obtained information on the performance of officers who had been tested and were hired full-time. A control group of 100 male college students who had passed the Vermont written exam for city and town law enforcement were also administered the MMPI. The MMPI did distinguish characteristics of successful officers that differentiated them from unsuccessful ones. It was found that the successful police officer feels more physically competent, tends to be more accepting of society's values and standards, has fewer problems with authority and supervision, and is generally more guarded about revealing feelings than the unsuccessful officer. Tabular data and 11 references are provided.