secret police

American  

noun

1. a police force that functions as the enforcement arm of a government's political policies and whose activities, which often include surveillance, intimidation, and physical violence as a means of suppressing dissent, are usually concealed from the public.

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secret police British  

noun

1. a police force that operates relatively secretly to check subversion or political dissent

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Etymology

Origin of secret police

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

secret police

And critics claimed the company’s “Service Department,” designed to see that workers remained “sober and industrious,” was nothing more than a secret police force.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

It is completely understandable to raise concerns about a tattoo associated with the Nazi secret police; nobody should be regarded as a pedant for doing so.

From Slate ● Apr. 13, 2026

After a short stint as an intel adviser to Mr. Maduro, Mr. González López was, in April 2019, again assigned to head the secret police.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 17, 2026

Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, refuted descriptions of ICE as a secret police force.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2025

Crowded into the bunker were other top Soviet physicists, along with the head of Stalin’s secret police, Lavrenti Beria.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin