After the installation of a Model System in the City of Redondo Beach, Calif., in 1969, the handbook was prepared with the aid of a LEAA grant. Surveys of three similarly sized departments affirmed that the Model System was transferable. The system was initially tailored to use unit record machines, but it is adaptable to manual or computer processing. The first section outlines a systematic method for beginning such a project and introduces the systems analysis approach to problem solving. A model for analysis and documentation of the existing information management system to be studied is provided. In addition, the development of innovative approaches to the accomplishment of information management tasks by literature searches, attendance at seminars, tours of industrial complexes, and surveys of other police departments is suggested. The fourth section details the tasks to be followed in the system design activity, develops and illustrates the need for a Design Requirements Plan, discusses the content of the System Design Specification, describes the concept of 'Trade-Off Studies,' considers system evaluation, and discusses the audit principle as a means of measuring system performance. An approach to an Implementation and Test Plan is described. The Redondo Beach Police Information Management System is discussed and samples and uses of all forms are shown. The main features of the Model System are analyzed and other processing methods than the use of electrical accounting machines for processing the data introduced into the system are discussed. A special section describes in narrative and cartoon form the typical moderate-sized police department's records system as it was found in a 47-city survey as well as the features and benefits of the Model System. Charts, graphs, diagrams, data tables, and appendixes with supplementary information are provided. (Author abstract modified.)