The police have become a cultural symbol and an important element of narratives of national identity.

Police and policing are distinct concepts. Policing relates to broad processes of social regulation underpinning everyday life, as performed by a wide range of agen¬cies. Historically, ‘policing’ has been understood in these broad terms and not associated with the activities of a particular organisation.

A narrower definition, equating policing to the activities of the institution of the police, might lack breadth but it is a clearer and more concise perspective.

Often, policing is understood in terms of law enforcement, certainly this has been a common perspective in media coverage. Fictional and documentary images of police work tend to centre on crime-fighting, portraying the police as the ‘thin blue line’ between social order and chaos.

The law enforcement perspective is flawed since police officers use considerable discretion when applying the law, and many laws are rarely enforced by most offic¬ers. Moreover, police services perform a wide range of activities that do not relate to law enforcement.