POLICE DEPARTMENTS ARE VIEWED BY THE COMMUNITY AS RELATIVELY OPEN AND ADAPTIVE INSTITUTIONS. SUCH FACTORS AS COMMUNITY SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION, DEPARTMENT ATTRIBUTES, AND PERSONAL AND CAREER EXPERIENCES OF POLICE CHIEFS CAN AFFECT HOW POLICE CHIEFS IDENTIFY WITH A PROFESSIONAL MODEL OF WORK. THE COMMUNITY ENCOMPASSES SOCIAL RANK, ETHNIC COMPOSITION, AND LIFESTYLE. ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF POLICE DEPARTMENTS THAT DETERMINE POLICE POLICIES, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIOR ARE SIZE AND COMMAND STRUCTURE. VARIABLES RELATED TO PERSONAL AND CAREER EXPERIENCES OF POLICE CHIEFS INCLUDE AGE, YEARS OF SCHOOLING COMPLETED, TIME LIVED IN THE JURISDICTION WHERE EMPLOYED, TIME SERVED IN THE DEPARTMENT, TIME AS A POLICEMAN, AND TIME AS A POLICE CHIEF. WITH REGARD TO PROFESSIONALISM, THE CONCERN IS WITH THE IDENTIFICATION OF A PROFESSIONAL REFERENCE GROUP, THE PRESENCE OF PUBLIC SERVICE ORIENTATION, BELIEF IN COLLEAGUE CONTROL, A SENSE OF VOCATION, AND A SENSE OF AUTONOMY. TO TEST COMMUNITY, POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND PERSONAL AND CAREER EXPERIENCE VARIABLES, DATA WERE COLLECTED BY A MAIL SURVEY CARRIED OUT IN 1973 IN PENNSYLVANIA. THE SAMPLING METHOD YIELDED 155 COMPLETED INTERVIEWS, APPROXIMATELY 65 PERCENT OF THOSE INITIALLY CONTACTED. THE SAMPLING FRAME USED COMMUNITIES RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL POLICE CHIEFS, AND THE FOCUS OF DATA ANALYSIS WAS ON STANDARDIZED REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS RATHER THAN ON COEFFICIENTS OF DETERMINATION. FINDINGS REVEALED THAT THE ACCEPTANCE OF A PROFESSIONAL MODEL OF WORK RESPONDS TO A VARIETY OF FACTORS. THE JOINT EFFECT OF POLICE DEPARTMENT SIZE AND COMMAND STRUCTURE WAS SIGNIFICANT ONLY IN TERMS OF PUBLIC SERVICE. AGE WAS NEGATIVELY RELATED TO THE USE OF THE OCCUPATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS A REFERENCE GROUP, BELIEF IN PUBLIC SERVICE, AND BELIEF IN COLLEAGUE CONTROL. IT WAS POSITIVELY RELATED TO AUTONOMY AND A SENSE OF VOCATION, AND BELIEF IN COLLEAGUE CONTROL. TIME AS A POLICEMAN WAS NEGATIVELY RELATED TO PROFESSIONALISM, BUT LONGEVITY IN THE ROLE OF POLICE CHIEF INCREASED THE PROBABILITY OF PROFESSIONALISM. EDUCATION POSITIVELY AFFECTED PROFESSIONALISM. TENURE IN THE ROLE OF POLICE CHIEF AND EDUCATION WERE THE MOST CONSISTENT PREDICTORS OF PROFESSIONALISM. SUPPORTING DATA AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)