Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use police in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Police means a constituted body of officers representing the civil authority of government, empowered to maintain public order and safety, enforce the law, and prevent, detect, and investigate crime. Example: “Call the police!”

Examples of police by meaning

nounA constituted body of officers representing the civil authority of government, empowered to maintain public order and...

  • Call the police!
  • Police! help! Police! help!
  • In the criminal justice system, the People are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.1990 Sept. 13, David Black & al., "Prescription for Death", Law & Order, 00:00:01

nounA department of local (usually municipal) government responsible for general law enforcement.

  • The Cook County Sheriff's Department has jurisdiction across most of Chicago but focuses on the unincorporated area and tasks like prisoner transport, leaving the rest to the Chicago Police Department.

nounA branch of the Home Office responsible for general law enforcement within a specific territory.

  • Scotland Yard is, technically speaking, only the metropolitan police for Greater London but because of their importance they have special jurisdiction for some crimes across the United Kingdom.

nounThe staff of such a department or agency, particularly its officers; (regional, chiefly US, Caribbean, Jamaica...

  • This time it is the worst kind of call a murder police can get.2006, David Simon, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, →ISBN, page 440

nounSynonym of administration, the regulation of a community or society.

  • The notion of ‘police’ – that is, rational administration – was seen as a historical force which could bring civilized improvement to societies.2002, Colin Jones, The Greta Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 218

verbTo enforce the law and keep order among (a group).

  • Extra security was hired to police the crowd at the big game.
  • Smith returns in Men In Black 3 as a veteran agent of a secret organization dedicated to policing the earth’s many extraterrestrials.2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club
  • Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult.2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848

verbTo clean up an area.

  • ELIAS: Police up your extra ammo and frags, don't leave nothing for the dinks.1986, Oliver Stone, Platoon (film script)
  • "Fire off several rounds in a residential building and stop to police the brass?"2006, Robert B. Parker, Hundred-Dollar Baby, Putnam,, →ISBN, page 275

verbTo enforce norms or standards upon.

  • to police a person's identity

More sentences with police

  • Police arrested the head of the gang in a raid last night.From the entry head
  • Police are not naming the suspect as he is a minor.From the entry name
  • A wall of police officers met the protesters before they reached the capitol steps.From the entry wall
  • Police have been unable to ID the body found in the river.From the entry id
  • The police said they would wring the truth out of that criminal.From the entry wring
  • The police officer wounded the suspect during the fight that ensued.From the entry wound
  • The Automobile Association is every motorist's friend. The police is every law-abiding citizen's friend.From the entry friend
  • The police have a couple of leads they will follow to solve the case.From the entry lead
  • The catch of the perpetrator was the product of a year of police work.From the entry catch
  • We felt it (to be) our duty to call the police.From the entry feel
  • For insurance reasons, I had to report the theft to the local police station.From the entry report
  • The police force were unable to deal with the sophistication of the criminal network.From the entry sophistication
  • The man, driving an SUV, then rammed the gate, according to police.From the entry ram
  • The police nicked him climbing over the fence of the house he’d broken into.From the entry nick
  • The police say I stole the car, but I never did it.From the entry never
  • She's being taken to the police car now , so they must be going to arrest her.From the entry must
  • The police ran an operation to get vagrants off the streets.From the entry operation
  • It happened that a police car was passing my house just at that moment.From the entry happen
  • The police pulled me over for driving with an expired rego.From the entry rego
  • The police officer has excellent aim, always hitting the bullseye in shooting practice.From the entry aim
  • Don’t drop that plate! The police ordered the men to drop their weapons.From the entry drop
  • The police will make every effort to trace the missing girl.From the entry every
  • He regards honesty as a duty, but was regarded himself as (being) rather dangerous by the police.From the entry regard
  • Despite all the call congestion, she was eventually able to raise the police.From the entry raise
  • Bill was eliminated as a suspect when the police interviewed witnesses.From the entry eliminate
  • Don't you threaten me, pal – I'll report you to the police.From the entry pal
  • The tourist's photographs and the tape of the police call provide a record of the crime.From the entry record

Meaning of police

  1. noun A constituted body of officers representing the civil authority of government, empowered to maintain public order and safety, enforce the law, and prevent, detect, and investigate crime.
  2. noun A department of local (usually municipal) government responsible for general law enforcement.
  3. noun A branch of the Home Office responsible for general law enforcement within a specific territory.

Full definition of police

Questions about police in a sentence

How do you use police in a sentence?
Police is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Call the police!”
What is a short sentence with police?
“Call the police!”
What does police mean?
Police means a constituted body of officers representing the civil authority of government, empowered to maintain public order and safety, enforce the law, and prevent, detect, and investigate crime.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: police (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use police in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/police. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.