The objectives of the exercise were to give students practical experience in objective decisionmaking techniques and to give them the opportunity to utilize and appreciate computer-provided management information incorporating operational deployment, forecasting, budgetary control, and use of statistics. The exercise was carried on by four separate groups, with each member of a group assigned a certain role, either that of a senior police officer or that of the force finance officer. Each group is responsible for the management of a police force over a period of about 5 years, each year represented by one 'round' of the exercise. For every game year, a force information bulletin is produced by a series of computer models. Following the first run of the exercise, alterations were made for its continued use in the training program. Exercise Crusoe was developed as a combined effort. The Police Scientific Development Branch of the Home Office had overall responsibility and developed the computer models of the force operations. The Local Government Operations Research Unit developed the computer models of costs and manning.