THE DORSET POLICE FORCE IS A COUNTY FORCE EMPLOYING 1,114 OFFICERS (1978). THE COUNTY CONTAINS 2,600 SQUARE KILOMETERS (ABOUT 1,050 SQUARE MILES) WITH A YEAR-ROUND POPULATION OF ABOUT 600,000. THIS NUMBER TRIPLES DURING THE SUMMER. THE AREA IS PRIMARILY RURAL, ALTHOUGH THERE ARE A FEW LARGE POPULATION CENTERS (THE LARGEST BEING BOURNEMOUTH, POPULATION 147,000). THE CURRENT SYSTEM IS AN OUTGROWTH OF A PIONEERING SYSTEM WHICH USED THE COMPUTER BELONGING TO THE DORSET COUNTY COUNCIL. THIS OPERATION WAS LIMITED BECAUSE INFORMATION WAS SELDOM AVAILABLE AT TIME OF IMMEDIATE NEED. THE NEW SYSTEM CONSISTS OF THREE SUBSYSTEMS: COMMAND AND CONTROL, MESSAGE SWITCHING, AND MANAGEMENT INFORMATION. THE COMMAND AND CONTROL COMPONENT WILL RECEIVE CALLS, IMMEDIATELY DISPLAY RESOURCES AVAILABLE, PROVIDE INFORMATION FOR FUTURE ALLOCATIONS OF MANPOWER, PLOT INCIDENTS ON A STREET MAP FOR EACH URBAN AREA, AND MONITOR BURGLAR ALARMS. THE MESSAGE-SWITCHING FUNCTION WILL PROVIDE CRIME AND STOLEN PROPERTY INFORMATION AND OTHER INTELLIGENCE TO EACH STATION. THE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM IS SET UP TO RECORD CRIMES, MAINTAIN LISTS OF STOLEN PROPERTIES, HANDLE TRAFFIC ACCIDENT DATA, MAINTAIN ARREST AND PROCESSING DATA, AND PRINT OUT REPORTS. THE HARDWARE IS DESCRIBED BRIEFLY, AND DIAGRAMS SHOW THE SYSTEM CONFIGURATION, THE VISUAL DISPLAY NETWORK, AND THE TELEPRINTER NETWORK. PHOTOGRAPHS AND SAMPLES OF THE SYSTEM'S PRINTOUTS ILLUSTRATE THE DISCUSSION. (GLR)