8.1.7 Vanishing Advocate (Figure 8.3)



In Boston a simulation model originally developed by one of us for the Boston Police Department was reprogrammed with a natural language interface especially tailored to the needs of the Department. Virtually all of the work had been carried out in cooperation with one civilian planner in the Department, who happened to be a former MIT student. This planner, who became a close working assistant of the Police Commissioner, resigned with the Commissioner when the mayor decided against the Commissioner's
reappointment for another 5-year term. The simulation model at that time was only 4 months away from completion. Not only did no one else in the department know much about it, but the model itself took on a political identity associated with the "old regime." Despite attempts to teach others in the Department how to use the model, it was never used and went into "hibernation" after its completion. (For details, see [HEBE 78a].)