THE AUTOMATIC VEHICLE MONITORING (AVM) SYSTEM PRESENTED PROVIDES AT CENTRAL HEADQUARTERS THE REAL-TIME LOCATION, IDENTIFICATION, AND STATUS OF EACH VEHICLE IN A FLEET. AVM SYSTEMS GENERALLY INCLUDE (1) A MEANS OF LOCATING A VEHICLE, (2) THE TRANSFER OF VEHICLE LOCATION AND STATUS INFORMATION FROM THE VEHICLE TO A CENTRAL HEADQUARTERS LOCATION, (3) THE REAL-TIME PROCESSING OF THE DATA, AND (4) THE DISPATCHER TERMINAL FOR DISPLAY AND ANALYSIS OF THE DATA. THE VEHICLE LOCATION TECHNIQUES DETAILED ARE NAVIGATION (HYPERBOLIC) SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE LORAN C SYSTEM, SIGNPOST/PROXIMITY SYSTEMS, TRILATERATION SYSTEMS, AND DEAD-RECKONING SYSTEMS SUCH AS THE ONE USED IN ST. LOUIS, MO. FOR EACH SYSTEM, INFORMATION TRANSFER FROM VEHICLE TO HEADQUARTERS IS EXPLAINED AS ACCOMPLISHED BY RANDOM REPORTING, BY SEQUENTIAL POLLING, AND BY USE OF PREDETERMINED TIME SLOTS. HEADQUARTERS PROCESSING IS DESCRIBED AS PERFORMED BY LOGIC CIRCUITS OR BY COMPUTER, AS IS THE DISPATCHER TERMINAL'S PROVISION OF ALPHA-NUMERIC DISPLAY OR A VIDEO OR MAP DISPLAY. CHARACTERISTICS, ADVANTAGES, AND DISADVANTAGES OF EACH ALTERNATIVE ARE DISCUSSED. ACCURATE COST ESTIMATES FOR VARIOUS AVM SYSTEMS ARE NOT AVAILABLE, ALTHOUGH ALONG WITH THE INITIAL INVESTMENT, OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE COSTS MUST BE CONSIDERED AND THE COST OF AVM MUST BE JUSTIFIED IF IT IS TO BE WIDELY IMPLEMENTED. NONMONETARY BENEFITS MENTIONED INCLUDE BETTER EFFECTIVENESS DUE TO BETTER SUPERVISION, SAVING OF OFFICERS' LIVES, BETTER COMMAND AND CONTROL, AND PERHAPS BETTER MORALE; ADVERSE EFFECTS NOTED ARE RESULTS OF LOWER MORALE OR SYSTEM ABUSE. FOOTNOTES, FIGURES, AND TABLES ARE INCLUDED. FOR RELATED ARTICLES SEE NCJ 64852 AND 64854. (CFW)