IN 1969 A TWO-WEEK DATA-COLLECTION EFFORT WAS CONDUCTED WITH THE COOPERATION OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE EXPERIMENT WAS TO DETERMINE EMPIRICALLY THE OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RADIO-DISPATCHED PATROL FORCE AND RELATED PERSONNEL IN THE COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION, INCLUDING THE PERCENTAGE OF TIME SPENT ON VARIOUS ACTIVITIES, THE RESPONSE TIME TO CALLS FOR SERVICE, THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE FORCE, THE DISPATCHING ALGORITHM, AND SIMILAR ISSUES. THE EXPERIMENT WAS PLANNED TO PROVIDE PARAMETER VALUES FOR EXISTING MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF PATROL AND DISPATCH ACTIVITY, TO HELP CHECK THE VALIDITY OF THESE MODELS, TO PROVIDE INFORMATION WHICH WOULD HELP TO CONSTRUCT MORE REALISTIC MODELS, AND TO GIVE RISE TO RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WOULD IMPROVE OPERATIONS.