Use the police when
referring to the institution/organization:
§
My son wants
to join the police when he grows up.
Police (without “the”) can be used to refer to an unspecified number of
individual officers:
§
Police searched the area for evidence.
§
He was
killed in a shootout with police.
…but it’s also OK to use “the” in these
situations:
§
The police searched the area for evidence.
§
He was
killed in a shootout with the police.
When
referring to the institution/organization, always use the police.
When
referring to a group of officers, you can use police or the
police – both are OK
Never say “a
police” to talk about an
individual. Instead, say:
§ a policeman
§ a
policewoman
§ a police
officer
