Why is Policies important in Laravel applications, and what problem does it solve for developers?

Why is Policies important in Laravel applications, and what problem does it solve for developers? The key reason to understand policies is that Laravel applications are usually composed of several layers that must work together predictably. Policies group authorization logic around a model or resource and make CRUD-style permissions easier to organize. Ignoring that boundary can lead to duplicated logic, poor security, unnecessary database work, or code that is difficult to test. Why it matters in practice: Authorization determines what an authenticated user is permitted to do and can be expressed through gates and policies. The specific focus here is policies: Policies group authorization logic around a model or resource and make CRUD-style permissions easier to organize. This question is designed to test not only terminology, but also how the concept fits into Laravel's request, application, database, security, or deployment workflow.