CRITERIA USED IN DESIGNING THE SYSTEM WERE SIMPLICITY, MINIMAL DATA REQUIREMENTS, LACK OF DEPENDENCE ON COMPUTERS OR ADVANCED STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES, USE OF KNOWLEDGE FROM A RECENT POLICE EXECUTIVE TRAINING PROGRAM, AND FLEXIBILITY. THE SYSTEM CONSISTS OF 14 INTERRELATED TASKS: (1) FORECASTING COMMUNITY-GENERATED CASELOADS; (2) SETTING QUANTITATIVE SERVICE LOAD OBJECTIVES; (3) FORECASTING OFFICER-INITIATED CASELOADS; (4) MEASURING EACH TASK'S TIME REQUIREMENTS; (5) ESTIMATING FIELD MANHOURS REQUIRED; (6) ESTIMATING MANHOURS FOR EACH TYPE OF FIELD UNIT; (7) DETERMINING AVAILABLE PERSONNEL; (8) DETERMINING PERSONNEL REQUIREMENTS; (9) DETERMINING PERSONNEL COSTS; (10) DETERMINING EQUIPMENT COSTS; (11) DETERMINING FIELD OCCUPANCY COSTS; (12) DETERMINING SUPPORT COSTS; (13) MATCHING ESTIMATED COSTS WITH AVAILABLE RESOURCES AND MAKING ADJUSTMENTS IF NECESSARY; AND (14) ANALYZING BENEFITS AND COSTS OF ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF PROVIDING FIELD POLICING SERVICES. FOR EACH TASK, THE OVERALL PURPOSE, SPECIFIC DECISIONMAKING CONSIDERATIONS, METHOD FOR ACCOMPLISHING THE TASK, AND OVERALL TASK RESPONSIBILITY, ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. A FLOW CHART SHOWING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG TASKS, AND EXHIBITS INCLUDING A GLOSSARY AND A SUGGESTED FORMAT FOR PRESENTING A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS, ARE PROVIDED. FOR RELATED ARTICLES IN THIS VOLUME, SEE NCJ 59239-59244 AND 59246.