The report describes the methodology of and summarizes a portion of the data from the LEAA Police Equipment Survey of 1972. One of a series of 71 reports resulting from the nationwide mail survey of a stratified random sample of 1,386 police departments, the present report summarizes the answers of 1,000 police departments concerning the need for performance standards for items of law enforcement equipment used in their departments. Each department was asked to rank one list of equipment categories and nine lists of equipment items within those categories in terms of need for standards for those items within their own departments. The data are presented by all responding departments, by all city departments, by 7 department types, and by 10 LEAA geographical regions. Data describing the characteristics of the responding departments are also presented.