Enforcing law, creating order April 29, 2021 We know that the police are the most despised institution in our country, according to various polls, such as the ratings put out by Transparency International and also other groups. We also know that the perception of people that they are corrupt, dishonest, poorly trained, and guilty of many acts of violence against those they hold captive are true. But this poorly trained force is expected to deal with problems which are beyond what it can manage. There is, of course, no excuse at all for the use of torture and extrajudicial killings by the police. But we also need to understand more about this force given that it is essential to maintaining any kind of order in a country that badly lacks it and where rule of law appears to have crumbled completely over the years.