police
noun
an organized civil force for maintaining order, preventing and detecting crime, and enforcing the laws.
were policing
-
past progressiveof police.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In my department in Florida, it was mostly white police officers, and we were policing this very low-income African American neighborhood.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2020
“What we found was that these dialogue units were policing the police,” said Stott.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 2, 2020
I think that the authorities were desperate for a reset button, and Willie could be a bridge between law enforcement and the communities that they were policing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2019
"I started trying to look at the job differently. I figured there had to be a way to be an effective police officer without alienating the people you were policing," he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2018
He desired the Philippines for himself; we had not yet acquired them; we were policing them, superintending the harbor, administering whatever had fallen to us from Spain's defeat.
From A Straight Deal or The Ancient Grudge by Owen Wister
