THREE SOURCES DETERMINE THE FORM OF THE VARIOUS POLICE FORCES IN QUEBEC: THE CONTINENTAL, FRENCH MODEL OF CENTRALIZATION AND PLANNING, THE ANGLO-SAXON TRADITION OF DECENTRALIZED ADMINISTRATIVE INSTITUTIONS, AND NORTH AMERICAN NOTIONS OF EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT. THE COMBINATION RESULTS IN TENDENCIES TOWARD DEMOCRATIZATION AND EFFICIENCY OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AS WELL AS TOWARD CONFLICT BETWEEN CENTRALIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION. THE POLICE INSTITUTIONS ARE THE FEDERAL CANADIAN ROYAL POLICE, THE PROVINCIAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE DEPARTMENT OF QUEBEC, AND THE LOCAL POLICE, WHOSE SPHERES OF ACTIVITY SOMETIMES OVERLAP. TO IMPROVE POLICE EFFECTIVENESS, A 1971 WHITE PAPER WAS PRESENTED BY THE JUSTICE MINISTER. IN A 1977 UPDATE OF THE REPORT THE NEED FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS IN RECRUITING, FOR INTEGRATION OF POLICE CURRICULUM INTO EXISTING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, FOR COMPREHENSIVE LEADERSHIP RATHER THAN AUTHORITARIANISM, FOR EMPHASIS ON SENIORITY FOR ADVANCEMENT, AND FOR IMPROVED POLICE PUBLIC RELATIONS THROUGH SPECIAL COMMUNITY PROJECTS AND CRIME PREVENTION DIVISIONS WERE EMPHASIZED. ASSESSMENT OF JOB APPLICANTS IN 1979 IS BASED ON A WRITTEN APPLICATION WITH A BIOGRAPHY AND A MEDICAL HISTORY, VERIFICATION OF REFERENCES, AN INTERVIEW, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS (BIOGRAPHICAL, PERSONALITY, VERBAL LOGIC, COLOR VISION, AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTS). TRAINING, WHICH IS CONDUCTED AT ONE OF NINE GENERAL AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING SCHOOLS, LASTS THREE YEARS AND IS DEVOTED FIRST TO OBLIGATORY GENERAL EDUCATION, THEN TO SPECIALIZED TRAINING. POLICE, CORRECTIONAL, AND JUDICIAL SPECIALTIES REQUIRE KNOWLEDGE OF GENERAL CULTURE, CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, AND POLICE TECHNIQUES. PROGRAMS AT VARIOUS LEVELS COVER A PREPOLICE INTRODUCTION, PRACTICAL GROUNDING FOR ASPIRING POLICE OFFICERS (ORIENTATION, LAWS AND REGULATIONS, AND PHYSICAL CONDITIONING), SPECIALTY TRAINING IN TECHNIQUES WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO UNIFORMITY OF POLICE FUNCTION, AND PARAPOLICE TRAINING FOR MINISTRY AGENTS AND INSPECTORS. THE ADVANTAGES OF BASIC TRAINING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND OF POLICE DEMILITARIZATION ARE EMPHASIZED. NOTES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE FURNISHED. --IN FRENCH. (KMD)