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What Are Secret Police?

Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis

Secret police are a state-run police department that generally focuses on investigating and suppressing internal dissent or treason. Throughout history, secret police forces have been nearly synonymous with the reign of totalitarian governments, though some moderate and democratic nations also have possessed quasi-secret police groups from time to time. The power of this type of police force is often closely linked to the reign of a specific dictator, political party, or head of state; in many cases, the mandate of the agency is to protect the agenda of its employer, rather than written law.

The “secret” of secret police refers to a non-transparent mode of operations. Unlike regular police, who may need to wear uniforms, display identification, and closely follow rules regarding the permitted surveillance and treatment of citizens, this far more powerful form of police may operate without oversight, public transparency, or adherence to laws. Throughout history, secret security forces have been linked to torture, murders, and unlawful exile of prisoners.

Adolph Hitler's Gestapo was a secret police force.
Adolph Hitler's Gestapo was a secret police force.

One of the most famous secret forces groups in history is the Gestapo. Operating in Germany during the era of Hitler's totalitarian regime, the Gestapo worked alongside other Nazi-run police forces to round up and frequently eliminate political dissenters as well as Jewish people, homosexuals, Communists, and other enemies of the Nazi state. The Gestapo worked with total freedom, able to detain, torture, and execute without any form of justice system. One special organization within the Gestapo, called the Reinstatement, worked exclusively to round up Jews and dispatch them to the horrors of the concentration camps.

Homosexuals were targeted during the Holocaust.
Homosexuals were targeted during the Holocaust.

Following the end of World War II, the rise of the Committee for State Security (KGB) in Russia created another titanic secret police force. The KGB worked simultaneously as an intelligence-gathering and internal police force; its mandate largely concerned the protection of the Communist regime by the suppression or elimination of dissent within Soviet-held territories. Spying on citizens, the KGB worked to destroy anti-Communist literature, religious movements, and any sign of a potential uprising against the powerful government.

Police forces like the Gestapo and the KGB are hardly a thing of the past. Under the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, ousted from power in 2011, the State Secret Police is believed by many experts to have been responsible for murders, beatings, and the illegal trial and execution of many Egyptian citizens. After the resignation of President Mubarak, the Egyptian government quickly moved to disband the much-hated organization.

To a certain extent, most nations allow certain security forces to work partially in secret. In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency both are permitted certain protections from public scrutiny in order to preserve the security of their work. What distinguishes these, and many other national security forces from secret police status is their adherence to law and the criminal justice system, something that rarely concerns a secret force.

Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis

With a B.A. in theater from UCLA and a graduate degree in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, Jessica is passionate about drama and film. She has many other interests, and enjoys learning and writing about a wide range of topics in her role as a MyLawQuestions writer.

Learn more...
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis

With a B.A. in theater from UCLA and a graduate degree in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, Jessica is passionate about drama and film. She has many other interests, and enjoys learning and writing about a wide range of topics in her role as a MyLawQuestions writer.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

SteamLouis

The bad part about secret police organizations is that what they are exactly doing is not known until a regime changes or the organization is shut down. I hear about files being discovered about the secret police in previously Communist states even now. But there is nothing which can be done about it.

ddljohn

I read an article the other day about the secret police in Iran. It said that the number of political prisoners in Iran is around 60,000 now, although they don't have exact numbers. There are also large numbers who have been executed, tortured and beaten by secret police.

I think secret police in authoritarian countries are extremely dangerous because authoritarian leaders never ever want to leave office. The role of secret police is to pressure and quiet down people who oppose the government and unfortunately, in some countries, they go overboard to do this.

I also think that the examples of overthrown authoritarian governments prove that the people's decision will eventually reign, no matter how much force or pressure is used.

bear78

Technically, the KGB no longer exists. New intelligence agencies were formed as a replacement after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. But I still hear people referring to Russian intelligence as the "KGB." Some do because the American public is not very familiar with the new agencies that replaced it. Others do, because they are not convinced that the KGB has been eliminated altogether.

I'm of the opinion that it really doesn't exist anymore. But I do wonder if this "secret police" continued to exist and function, would we know about it?

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    • Adolph Hitler's Gestapo was a secret police force.
      By: Recuerdos de Pandora
      Adolph Hitler's Gestapo was a secret police force.
    • Homosexuals were targeted during the Holocaust.
      By: Felix Mizioznikov
      Homosexuals were targeted during the Holocaust.