Although there is no national policy statement of British police goals, the goals are generally considered to be in the areas of crime, traffic, public order, and proactive social intervention. Proactive social intervention has developed from derived goals which initially legitimized the police constable's role in society. The uniformed police constable's exercise of discretion has led to the formation of operative goals that compensate for the lack of clarity in formalized organized goals. Operative goals are determined by the exigencies of social situations, as enforcement efforts are designed to reduce social distress rather than to establish culpability through strict enforcement of statutes. The behavior of police recruits is primarily influenced by operative goals impressed upon them by the existing constable peer group. This may produce a lack of congruity between police management policy, societal values, and operative output goals. This possible incongruity can be minimized by senior officers maintaining knowledge of operative goals and possible malpractices. Every effort should be made by police officials to ensure that official goals reflect 'popular morality' and that operative goals are a reflection of official goals, so that police output is a rational response to existing social needs and problems as well as expectations. Twenty-nine bibliographic listings are provided. (Author summary modified)