I believe order maintenance is the most important police function. Order maintenance "is a police practice that involves managing minor offenses and neighborhood disorders in order to address community problems." It is important that law enforcement get involved and subdues any behavior that threatens to be offensive or threatens to disturbs the peace. Order maintenance situations tend to be open to debate/argument and the police have extensive discretion in what their response should be. In performing this role, the police engage in what they call social regulation. How the police perform this role, what groups are objects of their attention, and the legal basis for their actions are mostly divisive and subject to social criticisms. Society