Law Enforcement

Law Enforcement

Law Enforcement refers to the application or threat of legally permitted sanctions to induce compliance with legal rules. Although the enforcement of the LAW may be undertaken by a wide variety of individuals and organizations, law enforcement is often popularly associated with the activities of specialized state agencies, especially the public POLICE forces. Indeed the public police are frequently described as a law-enforcement agency, as if they were the only group engaged in law enforcement and as if the enforcement of laws (especially CRIMINAL LAW) were their primary activity. In fact, the public police are only one of many agencies engaged in law enforcement (see POLICING). In addition, research suggests that only about 20% of police work is directly concerned with law enforcement as such.