Law enforcement agencies and society




Because the enforcement of laws has, by definition, a major impact on the society the laws apply to, the agencies which enforce the laws have a specific relevance to the societies in which they operate.

Some LEAs have been immortalised in history, literature, and popular media, for example the United Kingdom's Scotland Yard, the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

A small number of LEAs, particularly secret police forces which are unaccountable or have unrestricted powers, are not generally respected by their governing bodies’ subjects, due to the negative impact they have on the subjects.

Many fictional LEAs have been created in popular media and literature. See for example List of fictional secret police and intelligence organizations and List of fictional police forces.

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