As mandated in the 1973 Amendments to the Safe Streets Act, the National Manpower Survey of the Criminal Justice System was conducted to assess current and projected manpower needs, personnel quality, and training and education programs. Data were collected from the following sources: surveys of 8,000 executives of state and local criminal justice agencies, 1,600 state trial and appellate courts, and 250 law enforcement academies; an analysis of a 1975 census survey of 50,000 state and local criminal justice employees; and field visits to more than 250 agencies and training or educational institutions. Some of the findings of this extensive study include the following: selective increases of personnel are needed in most categories of criminal justice agencies; the five-year outlook is for lower levels of recruitment in most areas; the quality of much of the Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP) appears to be seriously deficient; and commitment to criminal justice manpower planning is necessary for improving the effectiveness of assistance programs for manpower development at both the national and state levels. (Accompanying volumes presenting more detailed results, and an interim report, are available--see note.) (BM)