Outline of law enforcement


The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to law enforcement:
Law enforcement - subsystem of society that promotes adherence to the law by discovering and punishing persons who violate rules and norms governing that society. Although the term may encompass entities such as courts and prisons, it most frequently applies to those who directly engage in patrols or surveillance to dissuade and discover criminal activity, and those who investigate crimes and apprehend offenders.

Essence of law enforcement

The reasons law enforcement exists:
- government agency responsible for enforcement of laws. Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while some have other names.
- applied science involving the study of facts, used to identify, locate and prove the guilt of a criminal. Modern-day criminal investigations commonly employ many scientific techniques known collectively as forensic science.