Over the years, police agencies have assumed primary responsibility for dealing with crime, but this concept is changing slowly as community policing begins to dominate the way police deal with crime. Even under the most favorable conditions, the ability of police officers to act against crime is limited because they do not create and cannot resolve social conditions that stimulate crime. Nonetheless, police officers encounter many critical issues that must be considered if they are to function effectively within the criminal justice system and in a changing society. Initial book chapters consider the nature and extent of crime in a political environment, the evolving police function, community policing, police use of deadly force, the murder and injury of police officers, aberrant police behavior, and police unions. Subsequent book chapters examine the male-dominated police culture and employment discrimination, police occupational stress, police corruption, and domestic and international terrorism. References and tables