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The Police was een Engelse rockband gevormd in Londen in 1976, maar werd actief vanaf 1977. Voor het overgrote deel van hun geschiedenis bestond de band uit Sting (leadzang en basgitaar), Andy Summers (gitaar) en Stewart Copeland (drums). The Police werd wereldwijd populair in de late jaren zeventig en wordt algemeen beschouwd als een van de eerste new-wavegroepen die bij het gewone publiek succes hadden.

De groep brak eind jaren '70 wereldwijd door met klassiekers als: Fall Out, So Lonely, Roxanne, Can't Stand Losing You, Message in a Bottle, Walking on the Moon, Bring on the Night en The Bed's Too Big Without You. Don't Stand So Close to Me, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Spirits in the Material World, Invisible Sun, Secret Journey, Every Breath You Take, Wrapped Around Your Finger, King of Pain, Synchronicity II en Don't Stand So Close to Me '86 volgden.

De groep werd na de Synchronicity Tour – die op 4 maart 1984 in Melbourne, Australië, eindigde – ontbonden, maar herenigd in januari 2007 voor een eenmalige wereldtournee die duurde tot augustus 2008. The Police verkocht wereldwijd meer dan 75 miljoen albums.

The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion), and this remained unchanged for the rest of the band's history. The Police became globally popular from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz.

Their 1978 debut album, Outlandos d'Amour, reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and contains the singles "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You". Their second album, Reggatta de Blanc (1979), became the first of four consecutive No. 1 studio albums in the UK and Australia; its first two singles, "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon", became their first UK number-one singles. Their next two albums, Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) and Ghost in the Machine (1981), led to further critical and commercial success, with two songs, "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", becoming UK number-one singles and Top 5 hits in other countries. The former album was their breakthrough into the US, reaching number five on the US Billboard 200.

Their final studio album, Synchronicity (1983), was No. 1 in the UK, Canada, Australia, Italy and the US, selling over 8 million copies in the US. Its lead single, "Every Breath You Take", became their fifth UK number one, and only US number one. During this time, the band were considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the US: in 1983 Rolling Stone labelled them "the first British New Wave act to break through in America on a grand scale, and possibly the biggest band in the world". The Police disbanded in 1984, periodically reuniting for one-off performances before fully reuniting in early 2007 for a world tour ending in August 2008. They were the world's highest-earning musicians in 2008 due to their reunion tour, which was the highest-grossing tour of 2007.

The Police have sold over 75 million records, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. The band won a number of music awards, including six Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards (winning Best British Group once), and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2003, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Four of their five studio albums appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The band were included among both Rolling Stone's and VH1's lists of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".