THE CANADIAN POLICE INFORMATION CENTRE (CPIC) IS AN AUTOMATED INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGNED AS A CENTRALIZED DATA BASE SERVING ALL POLICE FORCES IN CANADA. THE CENTRAL DATA BASE CONSISTS OF RECORDS CONTRIBUTED BY ALL USER AGENCIES THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM AND INCLUDES A PERSON SYSTEM FILE, A VEHICLE SYSTEM FILE, AND A STOLEN PROPERTY FILE. IN ORDER TO SUCCESSFULLY UTILIZE THE DATA BASE SYSTEM, A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK HAD TO BE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE RAPID SERVICE TO MORE THAN 1,000 TERMINALS, INCLUDING TERMINALS LOCATED IN SOME OF THE MORE REMOTE NORTHERN AREAS. WHILE THE EXISTING SYSTEM IS WORKING SATISFACTORILY, THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REPLACEMENT NETWORK CAPABLE OF FUNCTIONING UNDER KNOWN AND ANTICIPATED CONDITIONS HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN. BEFORE STARTING THE DESIGN OF THE NEW SYSTEM, CERTAIN CONSTRAINTS AND GOALS WERE FORMULATED. THESE INCLUDE: (1) ACCESS SHALL BE PROVIDED TO FILES, RECORDS, AND SYSTEMS ARE RECOMMENDED BY THE CPIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE; (2) RELIABILITY OF THE SYSTEM SHALL PROVIDE UNRESTRICTED ACCESS OF CPIC MAINTAINED FILES AND FACILITIES TO ALL TERMINALS 99 PERCENT OF THE TIME; (3) PERFORMANCE SHALL BE SUFFICIENT TO GUARANTEE SYSTEM RESPONSE TO CPIC TRANSACTION WITHIN 15 SECONDS 90 PERCENT OF THE TIME, AND WITHIN 45 SECONDS 99 PERCENT OF THE TIME; (4) THE INTEGRITY OF THE RECORDS SHALL BE SUCH THAT NO RECORD WILL EVER BE LOST AND ONLY THE AGENCY WHO ENTERED THE RECORD WILL BE ALLOWED TO ALTER OR REMOVE IT; AND (5) THE SYSTEM MUST BE EASY TO USE IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE HUMAN ERROR AND TO MAXIMIZE THE PRODUCTIVITY AND OUTPUT. THE NEW SYSTEM WILL INCORPORATE MUCH OF THE HARDWARE OF THE OLD SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH NEW FRONT-LINE PROCESSOR UNITS WILL BE EMPLOYED, AND THE EXISTING SYSTEM EQUIPMENT WILL BE MOVED TO LOWER VOLUME AREAS AND WILL BE BACKED UP. WITH THE NEW SYSTEM, THE RECOVERY AND RELIABILITY ASPECTS WILL BE GREATLY ENHANCED, AS WILL THE LIFE OF THE HOST SYSTEM AND THE TERMINAL AND EXTERNAL SYSTEM INTERFACES. A CHART OF THE FUTURE CONFIGURATION OF THE CPIC SYSTEM IS PROVIDED. (KBL)