The agencies must also set relatively high standards of employment so that no one inside or outside the agency has reasonable grounds on which to challenge the qualifications of the employees. Agencies must also avoid ranking the candidates as part of the selection process so that they will not be in the position of hiring in disregard of the rankings. This policy will prevent resentment and improve morale of both the target and nontarget employees. In conjunction with high standards, it will also protect the target employee from criticism and stigmatization based on suspicion of incompetence. After a pool of highly qualified candidates is chosen, they must be chosen randomly while reflecting the hiring quotas. Study data came from 15 police agencies chosen from the more than 200 agencies that responded to a mailed questionnaire. Site visits produced data from interviews and written responses. A few agencies were near or at their affirmative action goals. Interviewees were quick to state their belief in affirmative action. However, minority and women employees interviewed were often skeptical of the sincerity of the efforts and impatient with what was generally seen as very slow progress. Many of those interviewed were unaware of their agencies' affirmative action programs. Most of the agency programs were measures adopted on an ad hoc basis. The programs generally included both traditional and extended recruitment efforts. Data tables, footnotes, and five references are included.