DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES HAVE SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN ENFORCING THEIR LAWS AND MAINTAINING PUBLIC ORDER BECAUSE THEY CANNOT RESORT TO THE DRASTIC MEASURES AVAILABLE IN DICTATORSHIPS. THE POLICE MUST BE FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO ACCOMODATE MODERN CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES WHICH FAVOR CRIME PREVENTION OVER CRIME REPRESSION AND DETENTION OF CRIMINALS, BUT STILL PERFORM ITS TRADITIONAL ROLES OF MAINTAINING LAW AND ORDER AND PROTECTING LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS. IN AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC OPINION, CRIME PREVENTION IS CLASSED THE HIGHEST PRIORITY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, WHILE THE AWARENESS OF THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING AND ACTIVE SUPPORT OF POLICE ACTIONS WAS EVIDENT IN ANSWERS GIVEN TO OTHER QUESTIONS. AUSTRALIANS FELT THAT POLICE SHOULD DISSUADE POTENTIAL OFFENDERS BY MAINTAINING HIGH 'VISIBILITY' IN HIGH-CRIME AREAS. WHEN PREVENTION AND DISSUASION FAIL, AND CRIME DOES OCCUR, SWIFT POLICE ACTION IN PURSUING AND APPREHENDING CRIMINALS IS ESSENTIAL. A LARGE SEGMENT OF THE PUBLIC BLAMES THE INFLATED INCIDENCE OF CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT PROBLEMS ON PERMISSIVENESS, WHICH INVOLVES A WEAKENING OF RELIGIOUS AND MORAL RESTRAINTS ON HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND A BLURRING OF THE TRADITIONAL DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG. AMONG THE ACTUAL CAUSES OF CRIME, CONSENSUS LISTED THE AUTOMOBILE (TRAFFIC FATALITIES, AIR POLLUTION, STRESS FACTORS; SITUATION ETHICS, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARD TO OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY AND CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE; CHANGES IN SEXUAL MORES IN THE FIELDS OF PORNOGRAPHY, HOMOSEXUALITY, ABORTION, DIVORCE, AND VENEREAL DISEASES; AND DRUG ABUSE, ESPECIALLY AMONG JUVENILES. IN SUM, WHILE INDIVIDUAL POLICE OFFICERS MUST REMEMBER THAT THEIR TASK IS TO ENFORCE SPECIFIC LAWS AND ORDINANCES, NOT THEIR PERSONAL VIEWS ON MORALITY AND ACCEPTABLE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR, THE BASIC OBJECTIVES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT REMAIN PREVENTING CRIME AND PUBLIC DISORDERS AND KEEPING THE PEACE (FOR THE SECURITY OF SOCIETY AND PROTECTING THE LIFE, PROPERTY, AND PERSONAL FREEDOM OF THE CITIZENS (FOR THE SECURITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL). PICTURES ILLUSTRATE THE ARTICLE. --IN ITALIAN. (LGR)