"OUR SOCIETY ASKS A GREAT DEAL of its law enforcement officers. We expect that they will not only enforce the law, but wear the hat of the curbside psychiatrist, the social worker, legal adviser, minister, and sometimes, doctor. Few if any officials in our society are given the breadth of discretion and heavy responsibility that our police are asked to carry on matters affecting the daily lives of 220 million Americans."

Chief Justice Warren E. Burger thus summed up the roles Americans have thrust upon their police officers in an address to the graduating officers of the FBI National Academy in September. Before I leave the post of Director of the FBI, I would like to speak about, and to, the law enforcement officer that the Chief Justice described: the officer that plays so many roles, the first on the scene of trouble-the patrol officer.

The patrol officer is literally the Biblical shield and buckler of our society. We expect of him, people have told me, honesty, courtesy, ability, intelligence, discipline, training, understanding, and humaneness. All of these virtues are required all the time of police officers, plus the ability to act quickly, often with inadequate information but always with wisdom. In Chief Justice Burger's words, "Law officers on the firing line often have only minutes or even seconds-to make decisions on their conduct that perplex experienced judges for weeks. . .

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These decisions affect not only society's safety, but can mean life or death to the officer

himself; 110 police officers were killed last year, another 34 died in the line of duty in the first half of this year.

It is an immense source of pride to me that so many able and dedicated officers are in the ranks, ready to take charge at horrifying accident scenes, ready to chase down the dark alley after a burglar, ready to stand up to the armed robber, ready to help the weak, the injured, and the helpless. And not, for sure, for the financial rewarda survey in a west coast city last year showed police were paid less than municipal painters, bricklayers, carpenters, truckdrivers, and plumbers.

Yet, in the Chief Justice's judgment, police officers' "duties are enough to tax the energies, the patience, and the skills of the ablest people in the country. . . ." There are limits to patience; police officers are human, as well as humane. A criminology professor turned policeman, Dr. George L. Kirkham, wrote that he "learned so many things about myself on the streets of that police beat-learned that I had a limit to the frustration and disrespect that I could endure, learned that I got tired of handling other people's troubles night after night. The experience of walking even a few miles in a cop's shoes was a humbling one."

The men and women on patrol are the bulwark of law enforcement. I am proud of my years of association with you.

DECEMBER 1, 1977

intelley

CLARENCE M. KELLEY
Director

The National Park Service is

charged with the administration and management of the some 300 units, covering over 30 million acres, which comprise the National Park System. Under the act establishing the Park Service in 1916, the Service protects both park visitors and the resources of the parks. Thus, law enforcement and search and rescue functions in the national parks have been developed in response to congressional

enactment.

One of the most spectacular areas administered by the Park Service is Grand Teton National Park, located in northwestern Wyoming and encompassing the rugged Teton range and part of the adjacent valley known as Jackson Hole. Here, mountain peaks rise sharply some 7,000 feet above the valley floor to elevations exceeding 13,700 feet. On this 430 square mile Federal reservation, the National Park Service shares concur. rent jurisdiction with the State of Wyoming. Within the park, rangers provide visitor information, law enforcement, resource management, fire control, and search and rescue on the lakes, rivers, and in the mountains.