According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, law enforcement is the term that "describes the individuals and agencies responsible for enforcing laws and maintaining order public and public safety". Because we as a society want peace and order, we follow rules, rules and regulations, as well as having a written law that dictates what we can and cannot do as members of society. Therefore, it follows that there will be a corresponding governing body that will enforce these rules to maintain the peace and protect us from any harm that may impede us. In the same way that we have a social contract with government, in which the rulers are accountable to the people while the governed give up certain privileges in exchange for protection and security, so we also have that contract with our law enforcement agencies. Without the police force, our system can easily descend into anarchy and we are all privileged for their efforts to protect us from criminal behavior..