policing

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
police/pəˈliːs/

▶noun [treated as pl.] a civil force responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of public order.

■ members of such a force.

▶verb (often as noun policing) control and maintain law and order in (an area).

– origin C15 (in the sense ‘public order’): from Fr., from med. L. politia (see policy1).