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

An agent for the NKVD, the Soviet Union’s secret police, arranged an introduction between Mercader and Sylvia Ageloff, a left-wing social worker from Brooklyn, N.Y., whose sister had once been Trotsky’s secretary.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026

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

From Salon • Oct. 24, 2025

That doesn’t cover everyone, but it’s a pretty broad blow to the secret police: It means uniformed, on-duty agents are legally obligated to have identification at all times.

From Slate • Oct. 10, 2025

Cooper interviewed Parviz Sabeti, a former director of counter espionage for the Shah's secret police, as part of his research for a biography of the Shah.

From BBC • Sep. 1, 2025

Hitler’s secret police, the Geheime Staatspolizei, or Gestapo, hounded Catholic priests, nuns, and other church officials, instructing priests what to say in their sermons and classrooms.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti