THIS PROJECT WAS UNDERTAKEN IN RESPONSE TO THE OVERCROWDING OF POLICE RADIO COMMUNICATIONS IN PEAK HOURS. TWO VENDORS WERE SUBCONTRACTED TO SUPPLY CONCEPTUALLY DIFFERENT HAND-HELD TERMINALS, THUS PERMITTING A PARALLEL TEST. EQUIPMENT WAS OBTAINED FROM THE BURROUGHS CORPORATION AND FROM ELECTROMAGNETIC SCIENCES INCORPORATED. CRITICAL EVALUATIONS OF THE EQUIPMENT ARE DISCUSSED IN THE TEXT. THE PROJECT REVEALED THAT THE IDEA OF A HAND-HELD TERMINAL WAS A CONCEPTUALLY SOUND ONE, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT COULD PAY FOR ITSELF EASILY IN A LARGE JURISDICTION WITH ITS CAPACITY FOR CHECKING CARS ON UNPAID VIOLATIONS.