During the latter half of 1985, field work was conducted using an activity survey in which patrol officers completed logs for each shift they worked. Information was reviewed by the research team on a daily basis to determine how patrol officers were directed by management to different activities. Findings showed that patrol officers spent about 33 percent of their time actually on patrol. An additional 30 percent of duty time was spent of specific tasks, such as criminal investigation and processing. Abstractions comprised 12 percent of each shift and included such activities as meal breaks and training. Work inside the police station amounted to 17-19 percent of total duty time. Some lack of supervision over patrol officer duties and assignments was noted. Patrol officers themselves were willing to identify patrol targets and were interested in being involved in planning tasks. Patrol officers in both Chelsea and Barnet had some uncommitted time available to them but they were not being directed to use this time to achieve specific objectives. Planning for and managing directed patrolling are discussed in terms of objectives, organizational boundaries, and the contribution of information technology and crime analysis. Appendixes contain the activity survey and tabular data on research findings. 47 references, 9 tables, 5 figures.