THE DATA ARE FROM A NOVEMBER 1977 SURVEY OF THE LARGER URBAN POLICE DEPARTMENTS BELONGING TO THE POLICE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH FORUM (47 SURVEYED, 45 RESPONSES). THE REPORT OPENS WITH AN ANALYSIS OF SURVEY DATA REGARDING ADMINISTRATION, PERSONNEL, EQUIPMENT, COMPLAINTS, AND FIREARMS INCIDENTS. THIRTY-SEVEN TABLES PRESENT DATA AGGREGATED BY CITY SIZE (75,000-149,999, 150,000-249,000, 250,000-499,999, 500,000 OR GREATER) AND GEOGRAPHICAL REGION PERTAINING TO THE SUBJECTS COVERED IN THE NARRATIVE ANALYSIS. THE BULK OF THE DOCUMENT CONSISTS OF SUMMARY AND DEPARTMENT-SPECIFIC DATA KEYED TO THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT'S 63 QUESTIONS. THE DEPARTMENTS THAT RESPONDED TO THE SURVEY ARE LISTED BY NAME, CITY SIZE, AND GEOGRAPHICAL REGION. THE ANALYSIS OF ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES, WHICH FOCUSES ON PER CAPITA COSTS AND NUMBER OF SWORN OFFICERS PER 1,000 POPULATION, NOTES THE CONSIDERABLE RANGE AND VARIATION IN PER CAPITA COSTS (A HIGH OF $97.33, A LOW OF $12.33). SOUTHERN CITIES GENERALLY HAVE THE LOWEST MEDIAN PER CAPITA COSTS AND NORTHEAST/NORTH CENTRAL CITIES THE HIGHEST. BY CITY SIZE, PER CAPITA COSTS RANGE FROM A LOW OF $37.98 FOR THE 12 CITIES HAVING POPULATIONS OF 500,000 OR GREATER TO A HIGH OF $54.76 FOR THE 8 CITIES WITH POPULATIONS OF 150,000 TO 249,999. HOWEVER, THERE IS NO CONSISTENT PATTERN OF INCREASING OR DECREASING PER CAPITA COST BY CITY SIZE. THERE IS LESS VARIATION IN NUMBERS OF SWORN OFFICERS PER 1,000 POPULATION, BOTH BY CITY SIZE AND BY REGION. WITH REGARD TO PERSONNEL DISTRIBUTION, THE MEDIAN PATROL PERSONNEL PERCENTAGES ARE SIMILAR FOR ALL CITY SIZES, RANGING FROM A LOW OF 44.23 PERCENT TO A HIGH OF 45.57 PERCENT. THE RANGE AROUND THE MEDIANS IS LARGE. MEDIAN PERCENTAGES OF DETECTIVE PERSONNEL RANGE FROM 9.89 PERCENT TO 10.66 PERCENT. THIRTY (68 PERCENT) OF THE DEPARTMENTS INDICATED THAT THEY HAVE A CENTRALIZED CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FUNCTION. DATA SUGGEST THAT PERSONNEL TEND TO BE FAIRLY EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG DAY, EVENING, AND NIGHT SHIFTS. A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF DEPARTMENTS DO NOT USE FOOT PATROL BEATS AT ALL. NO DEPARTMENT USES ONLY TWO-OFFICER CARS DURING THE DAY, AND THREE DEPARTMENTS USE ONLY TWO-OFFICER CARS AT NIGHT. CONSIDERABLE VARIATION EXISTS IN THE USE OF CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES. THE MEDIAN NUMBER OF FEMALE OFFICERS IN DEPARTMENTS WAS 77; THE MEDIAN FOR BLACKS WAS 16. THE RANGES IN DATA ON FEMALES AND MINORITIES WERE CONSIDERABLE. THE MAJORITY OF DEPARTMENTS HAVE COMPUTER-BASED STOLEN AUTO, STOLEN PROPERTY, LICENSE REGISTRATION, AND WARRANT FILES AND COMPUTER-BASED POLICE CALL RECORDS. THERE IS CONSIDERABLE VARIATION IN NUMBERS OF COMPLAINTS RECEIVED AND NUMBERS SUBSTANTIATED (PER 100 SWORN OFFICERS). IT IS DIFFICULT TO INTERPRET COMPLAINT DATA, BECAUSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES DIFFER FROM DEPARTMENT TO DEPARTMENT. FIREARMS INCIDENTS PER 100 OFFICERS RANGED FROM 0.93 TO 8.66, WITH LITTLE VARIATION BY CITY SIZE. THE SINGLE EXCEPTION WAS CITIES WITH FEWER THAN 150,000 PEOPLE, WHICH HAD A NOTICEABLY LOWER OCCURRENCE OF FIREARMS INCIDENTS. A COPY OF THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT IS PROVIDED. (LKM)