May 24, 2013
The week's top five must-sees,
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The week's top five must-sees,
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Description
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. Their powers include the legitimized use of force. The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. Police forces are often defined as being separate from military or other organizations involved in the defense of the state against foreign aggressors; however, gendarmerie are military units charged with civil policing.
Law enforcement, however, constitutes only part of policing activity. Policing has included an array of activities in different situations, but the predominant ones are concerned with the preservation of order. In some societies, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, these developed within the context of maintaining the class system and the protection of private property. Some parts of the world may suffer from police corruption.
Alternative names for police force include constabulary, gendarmerie, police department, police service, crime prevention, protective services, law enforcement agency, civil guard or civic guard. Members may be referred to as police officers, troopers, sheriffs, constables, rangers, peace officers or civic/civil guards. Police of the Soviet-era Eastern Europe were called the militsiya. The Irish police are called the Garda Síochána; a police officer is called a garda. As police are often in conflict with individuals, slang terms are numerous. Many slang terms for police officers are decades or centuries old with lost etymology.
(via Freebase)
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![Egypt's military continues crackdown on protestors, blames them for violence [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-313000/313332/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=e6f7ae4641ad95ffe7be432a82995684 "A protester shows a bullet used by the army during clashes with riot police near cabinet offices near Tahrir Square in Cairo December 18, 2011. Protesters and security forces fought in Cairo on Sunday, the third day of clashes that have killed 10 people and exposed rifts over the army's role as it manages Egypt's promised transition from military to civilian rule: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh")
![Kuwait orders tight security following demands for prime minister's resignation [Al Jazeera, Qatar]](/images/image_cache/base-312000/312909/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=77e8a4cd91c980b05189ee8e8ab0b3d9 "A man stands on his motorbike as he attends a mass protest at Tahrir Square in Cairo November 18, 2011: REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih")
![Iraqi government forces carry out arbitrary arrest campaigns [Al-Rafidain TV, Iraq]](/images/image_cache/base-312000/312427/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=043585fc32743a57ca5123b47719fa9d)
