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

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

From 2014 to 2018, Mr. González López headed 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

And just to make sure Kurchatov and his team understood what was at stake, Stalin placed his head of secret police, Lavrenti Beria, in charge of the bomb project.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin