The analysis of future expert systems in law enforcement focused on projected increases in civilianization within law enforcement, standardization of telecommunications technology, the use of expert system technology, the demand for police services, and policing's traditional role. The analysis also considered events that may shape the use of expert systems technology, including a major earthquake, a major breakthrough in computer technology, a major economic crisis, a binding court case that prohibits police from sharing data bases, and a court decision that mandates equal police protection across States. A strategic plan for implementing a viable policy regarding the use of expert systems in law enforcement was then devised. An expert system is a computer program that operates on a personal or larger computer. The program encodes the expertise of a human and imitates the reasoning process that the expert would use to solve a problem. As police administrators look for ways to manage their departments with constrained resources, changes in computer technology and expert systems such as artificial intelligence may increase investigation time and supplement training programs. The study concludes that, as technology advances, police administrators will have greater opportunity to include expert systems and other computer applications in their department operations and that these administrators may need to look to entrepreneurial opportunities to fund such projects as public budgets become more restricted. 9 references, 12 illustrations.