THE IP HAS THE DUAL FUNCTION OF PERFORMING TRADITIONAL POLICE SERVICES AND ASSURING INTERNAL SECURITY. ITS WORK MUST BE VIEWED AGAINST THE HISTORIC BACKGROUND OF THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE; THE FLOW AND ABSORPTION OF MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS; THE PLURALISM OF CULTURAL, SOCIAL, AND ETHNIC ENCLAVES; THE CLIMATE OF CULTURAL CONFLICT ACCELERATED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS WITH CYCLES OF PROSPERITY AND RECESSION; URBANIZATION; AND DEVELOPING MOTOR CULTURE. CRIME AND RECIDIVISM ARE INCREASING IN ISRAEL, WITH PARTICULAR ADVANCES IN ORGANIZED CRIME, VIOLENT AND DISORDERLY BEHAVIOR, DRUG ABUSE, AND A COUNTER CULTURE OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL GROUPS. THE IP HAS HAD TO ADAPT TO THESE CIRCUMSTANCES WITH A SCARCITY OF MANPOWER BUT WITH AID OF AN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE PERMITTING MOBILIZATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE USE OF SPECIALIZED UNITS. SPECIAL ATTENTION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THE HANDLING OF TRAFFIC, YOUTH PROBLEMS, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS. RESEARCH ON IP IS SCARCE. THE FEW RESEARCH STUDIES HAVE HAD LIMITED ACCESS TO DATA BECAUSE OF THE RESISTANCE OF POLICE OFFICIALS TO SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND THE CLAIM THAT THE INTERNAL SECURITY WORK OF THE IP PRECLUDES ACCESS TO MANY OF THE AGENCY RECORDS. NATIONWIDE ECONOMIC HARDSHIP, DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ORGANIZATION AND SOPHISTICATION OF COMMON AND WHITE-COLLAR CRIME, AND THE CONTINUATION OF SECURITY NEEDS WILL CONTINUE TO PLACE GREAT PRESSURE UPON THE IP TO MEET HEIGHTENED PUBLIC DEMANDS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFECTIVENESS. (RCB)