APPROXIMATELY 75 PERCENT OF POLICE RADIO TRANSMISSIONS ARE REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION, WITH MESSAGES ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE PATROL UNIT BEING SECOND IN FREQUENCY OF USE. THE DISPATCHING MESSAGE STANDS THIRD, AND EMERGENCY MESSAGES CONSTITUTE THE SMALLEST PERCENTAGE OF MESSAGES. THE MOBILE DIGITAL TERMINAL IS CONSIDERED WELL-SUITED FOR INCREASING THE SPEED AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MAJORITY OF POLICE TRANSMISSIONS. IN THIS SYSTEM, THE PRIMARY INSTRUMENT OF USE BY THE POLICE OFFICER IS A TERMINAL CONSISTING OF A KEYBOARD AND A DISPLAY. THE KEYBOARD LAYOUT IS COMPRISED OF ALPHABETIC, NUMERIC, FUNCTION, AND STATUS KEYS. STATUS KEYS GENERATE A CODE REPRESENTING THE STATUS OF THE PATROL UNIT, AND FUNCTION KEYS WILL EVENTUALLY INSTRUCT THE BASE STATION'S COMMUNICATION PROCESSOR TO ROUTE THE MESSAGE TO A PARTICULAR CIRCUIT OR DATABASE. USUAL FUNCTIONS ARE DRIVER'S LICENSE CHECK, VEHICLE LICENSE PLATE CHECK, VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER CHECK, AND WARRANT CHECK. THE ARTICLE PROVIDES DIAGRAMS AND BRIEF EXPLANATIONS TO INDICATE HOW VARIOUS TRANSMISSIONS OCCUR. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE MOBILE DIGITAL TERMINAL INCLUDE AN AUTOMATIC HOLDING OF A MESSAGE FROM THE BASE STATION WHILE THE PATROL VEHICLE IS UNATTENDED AND SELECTIVE COMMUNICATION OF MESSAGES TO PARTICULAR PATROL CARS. THE GREATEST DISADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEM ARE ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE INITIAL COST AND THE TIME REQUIRED TO COMPOSE SOME TEXTUAL MESSAGES THAT COULD BE MORE QUICKLY AND EASILY SENT ORALLY. (RCB)