police

A constituted body of officers representing the civil authority of government, empowered to maintain public order and safety, enforce the law, and prevent, detect, and investigate crime.

How to use

The term 'police' is commonly used in formal and informal contexts to refer to the law enforcement agency of a country or local government. A notable grammatical nuance is that 'police' is a plural noun that takes a plural verb, e.g., 'The police are investigating the crime.' However, it's often mistakenly used with a singular verb, especially in informal writing. For instance, 'The police is investigating the crime' is grammatically incorrect.