Police

A police force is a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property and limit civil disorder. Their powers include the legitmized use of force. The term is most commonly associated with police services of a sovereign state that are authorized to exercise the police power of the state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. Policing has included an array of activities in different situations but the predominant ones are concerned with the preservation of order.

Uniformed Police
Preventive Police, also called Uniformed Branch, Uniform Division, Administrative Police, Order Police or Patrol, designates the police that patrol and respond to emergencies and other incidents, as opposed to detective services. They wear uniforms and perform functions that require an immediate recognition of an officer's legal authority such as traffic control, stopping and detaining motorists and more active crime response and preventation.

Detectives
Police detectives are responsible for investigations and detective work.

Weapons
In many jurisdictions, police officers carry firearms, primarily handguns, in the regular course of their duties. In the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand and Malta, with the exception of specialist units, officers do not carry firearms as a matter of course. Specialist units are deployed for handling armed offenders and similar dangerous situations.

They can also be armed with non-lethal weaponry, particularly for riot control. Non-lethal weapons include batons, tear gas, riot control agents, rubber bullets, riot shields, water cannons and electroshock weapons. Police officers often carry handcuffs to restrain suspects. The use of firearms or deadly force is typically a last resort only to be used when necessary to save human life, although some jurisdictions such as Brazil allow it's use on fleeing felons and escaped convicts. A "shoot-to-kill" policy was recently introduced in South Africa, which allows police to use deadly force against any person who poses a significant threat to them or civilians.