POLICE AND PRESS VIEWS OF EACH OTHER WERE GARNERED FROM INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED WITH POLICE OFFICIALS, PROSECUTORS, COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS, AND REPORTERS FROM BOTH PRINT AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN SEVEN MAJOR AMERICAN CITIES. THESE INTERVIEWS REVEALED STRIKING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE POLICE AND THE PRESS: BOTH ARE POWERFUL, VISIBLE INSTITUTIONS; BOTH ARE HIGHLY STRUCTURED AND ASSIGN PERSONNEL TO SPECIFIC 'BEATS'; BOTH PRIZE INGENUITY AND INVESTIGATIVE SKILLS; BOTH HAVE ATTRACTED LARGE NUMBERS OF AMBITIOUS YOUNG PEOPLE TO THEIR RANKS; BOTH ARE OFTEN SECRETIVE ABOUT THEIR METHODS; AND NEITHER GROUP ACCEPTS CRITICISM WITH EQUANIMITY. DESPITE THEIR SIMILARITIES, REPORTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS HAVE LONG VIEWED EACH OTHER IN SIMPLIFIED, STEREOTYPED TERMS. POLICE CHIEFS AND RANK-AND-FILE OFFICERS ARE WARY OF THE PRESS. POLICE OFFICERS OFTEN TEST REPORTERS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THEY CAN KEEP THEIR WORD BEFORE CONFIDING IN THEM. ONE FACTOR POLICE CITE TO EXPLAIN THEIR MISTRUST OF THE PRESS IS INCONSISTENT AND SPORADIC MEDIA COVERAGE--POSITIVE 1 WEEK, NEGATIVE THE NEXT--OFTEN WITHOUT APPARENT REASON. IN ADDITION, POLICE COMPLAIN THAT THE PRESS EMPHASIZES THEIR FAILURES WITHOUT REVEALING THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. MOST NEWSPAPERS MAKE ALMOST NO ATTEMPT TO ANALYZE THE DAILY PERFORMANCE OF POLICE DEPARTMENTS. THE NATION'S DAILY NEWSPAPERS DUE TO TELEVISION AND RADIO COMPETITION, ARE DEEMPHASIZING ALL BUT THE MOST SENSATIONAL CRIME COVERAGE, AND REPORTERS TEND TO SEARCH FOR STORIES INVOLVING POLICE BRUTALITY OR CORRUPTION, MATERIAL THAT COULD BRING A PULITZER PRIZE. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, NO MAJOR NEWSPAPER HAS ATTEMPTED TO ASSESS POLICE PERFORMANCE. SOME ILLUSTRATIONS ARE USED. (WJR)