In 1 month during 1980, four New York City police officers were murdered and six more were badly wounded in gunfights. Over the past 26 months, 14 police officers have been killed, 53 were hit by gunfire, and another 150 have been shot at but not hit. Of the four men charged with killing police officers in 1980, two had backgrounds of severe mental disorders, while the remaining two carried extremely long records for assault, robbery, and drug offenses but had spent little time in prison. These last two offenders typify a new breed of criminal who accepts brief periods of incarceration as a way of life and learns to manipulate the criminal justice system. Many of the killers seen today are the products of a juvenile justice system that has failed. Many of them have been institutionalized all of their lives and have no vision of the future. In New York City during 1979, there were 1,733 homicides, a figure higher than the record set in 1972 by 42 deaths. New York City ranks first in terms of murders committed by people who do not know their victims ('stranger-to-stranger' homicides). A total of 35 percent of the homicides in 1977 were those involving strangers; such homicides account for only 19 percent of the total nationwide. In addition, the leading cause of death in New York City for males between the ages of 15 and 44 is murder. The crime rate has probably increased because the city has more poor minority and ethnic residents than a decade ago and because of changes in the family structure. Guns are the favorite weapons in the hands of people who kill strangers, yet New York City's gun control laws are unevenly enforced. Plea bargaining and overly lenient judges often serve to make a sham of the law. The basic training received by New York's rookie officers is among the best in the world, but standards slip when it comes to retraining police officers on the street. The use of bulletproof vests is popular among police officers, but their distribution has been haphazard. It is expected that within the next 4 months of 1980, 21,000 city, transit, housing, and corrections officers will be wearing bulletproof vests. Photographs and two graphs are included.