Provides tables and graphs of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States. Each section has an introductory text. Each table and graph has a source note. Appendix 1 includes guides to sources of statistics, State statistical abstracts, and foreign statistical abstracts.

As of June 1997, there were more than 700 general purpose State and local law enforcement agencies with 100 or more full-time sworn personnel that included 50 or more uniformed officers responding to calls for service. These larger agencies collectively employed about 381,000 full-time sworn personnel, including about 226,000 officers assigned to respond to calls for service. Nearly all of these agencies provided data in response to this survey. Includes sections showing data on personnel, expenditures and pay, operations and equipment, computers and information systems, and policies and programs. Hundreds of statistical tables.