The police function as emissaries of the judiciary

The police’s role is to be agents of our legal system. Our lawmakers don’t enforce the laws, but our police do. The police do this by arresting people, serving warrants, and charging people as crimes are investigated. This is the work the courts need done in order to prosecute someone. Therefore, the police are doing the dirty work of the court system, or judiciary. This is their role because ensuring everyone follows the laws is essential to maintaining order. If the police did not enforce the laws of the courts, our society would cease to be a society because it would descend into chaos. However, the police are merely the intermediary between citizens and our legal system. Some may argue that they’re part of our legal system because the police are who charge people with crimes. However, just being charged means neither a conviction or even a court date. After being charged, the matter is in the hands of the courts, and so the police’s main job is just to deliver criminals into the hands of the courts. They are our domestic military responsible for keeping everyone safe, and take orders from the courts just as the military takes orders from the president (i.e. Commander in Chief). Much of what we deem criminal in the U.S. is considered so because it’s dangerous. Thus, upholding laws is one way the police maintain public safety. By working for the judiciary when a crime occurs, the police ensure justice. Although the police may arrest people, they only temporarily enforce laws until the court is able to sentence and convict the arrested criminal. This makes them distinct from the judiciary. And since the police follow the orders of judges and prosecutors, the police are their emissaries who go out into the world and carry out their instructions – be it granting or removing freedom from someone.