Secret police

national foreign intelligence agency of the United States

The ' (, , abbreviated Gestapo' ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.

The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, OGPU, and NKVD. Attached to the Council of Ministers, it was the chief government agency of "union-republican jurisdiction", carrying out internal security, foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence and secret police functions. Similar agencies operated in each of the republics of the Soviet Union aside from the Russian SFSR, where the KGB was headquartered, with many ass

The '''People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD''' (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) secret police organization, and thus had a monopoly on intelligence and state security functions. The NKVD is known for carrying out political repression and the Great Purge under Joseph Stalin, as well as counterintelligence and other operations on the Eastern Front of World War II. The head of the NKVD was Genrikh Yagoda from 1934 to 1936, Nikolai Ye

The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the '''''' (, an abbreviation of ), was the intelligence service and secret police of East Germany (the German Democratic Republic or GDR) from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive police organisations in the world, infiltrating almost every aspect of life in East Germany, using torture, intimidation, and a vast network of informants to crush dissent.

The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, abbreviated as VChK (), and commonly known as the Cheka (), was the first Soviet secret police organization. It was established on by the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR, and was led by Felix Dzerzhinsky. By the end of the Russian Civil War in 1922, the Cheka had at least 200,000 personnel.

intelligence agency and or police agency, law enforcement office which operates in secrecy

The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the Siguranța with help and direction from the Soviet MGB.

The Bureau for Intelligence and Security of the State (), shortened to SAVAK () or S.A.V.A.K. (), was the secret police of the Imperial State of Iran. It was established in Tehran in 1957 by national security law, and continued to operate until the Iranian Revolution in 1979, when it was dissolved by Iranian prime minister Shapour Bakhtiar.

The Department for the Protection of Public Safety and Order, usually called the Guard Department and commonly abbreviated in modern English sources as the Okhrana, was a secret police force of the Russian Empire and part of the Imperial police department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) in the late 19th century and early 20th century, aided by the Special Corps of Gendarmes.

armed group that conducts extrajudicial killings

The , was the military police of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The organization also shared civilian secret police that specialized in clandestine and covert operation, counterinsurgency, counterintelligence, human intelligence (HUMINT), interrogated suspects who might be Allied soldiers, spies or members of a resistance movement, maintained security of prisoner of war camps, raided to capture high-value targets, and provided security at important government and military locations at risk of being sabotaged within Japan and its occupied territories. It was notorious for its brutality and r

civilian intelligence agency and secret police of the People's Republic of China

The was a small secret police organization, an elite group of swordsmen organized by commoners and low-ranking samurai, commissioned by the (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time when a controversial imperial edict to exclude foreign trade from Japan had been made and the Chōshū clan had been forced from the imperial court. They gained considerable fame from events such as the Ikedaya incident and the August 18 coup, among others. The members were d

Soviet national security agency (1922-1923)

special operations unit within the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier

thumb|Messenia (ancient region)|Messenia, homeland of Sparta's helot population, from [[Mount Ithome.]] The Crypteia, also referred to as Krypteia or Krupteia (Greek: κρυπτεία krupteía from κρυπτός kruptós, "hidden, secret"; members were κρύπται kryptai), was an ancient Spartan state institution. The kryptai either principally sought out and killed helots across Laconia and Messenia as part of a policy of terrorising and intimidating the enslaved population, or they principally did a form of military training, or they principally endured hardships as an initiation ordeal, or the Crypteia serve

former Hungarian espionage agency

National intelligence agency of Belarus

police agency of Yugoslavia

Soviet national security agency (1923-1934)

The Directorate of State Security (, DSSh), commonly called the Sigurimi (which in Albanian means "Security"), was the state security, intelligence and secret police service of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Its proclaimed goal was maintaining state security of Albania, which meant it de facto also served to suppress opposing political activity among the populace and preserve the existing political system. It was regarded as one of the most feared, most repressive, and most brutal secret police agencies to ever exist.

The '''''Khadamat-e Aetla'at-e Dawlati (Pashto/ literally "State Intelligence Agency", also known as "State Information Services" or "Committee of State Security"), better known by the acronym KhAD', was the agency in charge of internal security, foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence and the secret police of the former Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

State Security (, ), or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it dealt with any activity that was considered opposition to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the state.

Soviet state security apparatus, secret police and security service

The International and State Defense Police (; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the Estado Novo regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the PIDE were the border, immigration and emigration control and internal and external state security. Over time, it came to be known for its secret police activities.

Secret police of Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship

soviet government ministry

The OVRA, unofficially known as the Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism (), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy during the reign of King Victor Emmanuel III. It was founded in 1927 under the regime of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The OVRA was the Italian precursor of Nazi Germany's secret police. Mussolini's secret police were assigned to stop any anti-fascist activity or sentiment. Approximately 50,000 OVRA agents infiltrated most aspects of domestic life in Italy. The OVRA, headed by Arturo Bocchini, never appeared in any official document, so th

North Korean secret police

government agency

secret service of Poland from 1956 to 1989

paramilitary organization in the Ottoman Empire

former name for the Bulgarian secret service

Soviet national security agency (1934-1943)

Soviet secret police, intelligence and counter-intelligence force (1941 and 1943)

post of the chiefs of the Kamakura shogunate in Kyoto

Japanese special police force

The Santebal (Khmer: សន្តិបាល, "Keeper of Peace") was the secret police and security apparatus of Angkar (The Organization) in Democratic Kampuchea (DK). It was an integral part of Marxist-Leninist and Maoist structure of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), which serves the party—referred to "Angkar" by purging "traitorous" elements which targets anyone including all foreigners (westerners) had suspected of opposing the party, including intellectuals, ethnic minorities (Vietnamese). The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975, declared "Year Zero," and began the forced evacuation

Syrian intelligence service

thumb|right|alt=Tokugawa Yoshimune|Tokugawa Yoshimune The or was a group of government-employed undercover agents (onmitsu), established by the 8th Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751). They were under the direct command of the shōgun and were in charge of assassination of high-value targets, clandestine operation, counterintelligence, executive protection, providing security at Edo Castle areas, and undercover intelligence operations. In actuality, their work consisted more often of reporting any news about the city of Edo to the shōgun or remaining incognito to inspect and report

intelligence agency of Jordan

national intelligence agency of the government of Uzbekistan

premier intelligence agency of Iraq under Saddam Hussein

19th and 20th-century political police in Prussia

secret police agency of Communist Poland

Venezuelan national intelligence agency

Kyrgyzstan national intelligence agency

late Roman Imperial Courier Service

The Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption is a directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, founded in 1992.

domestic intelligence agency and secret police

Syrian intelligence agency

The Wazarat-e Amaniat-e Dowlati (literally "Ministry of State Security") or WAD, is a former intelligence agency of the former Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, which succeeded KHAD. The WAD was disbanded in 1992 before the start of the 2nd Afghan Civil War. Despite the name change, most of the rank and file are dominated by Parchamis.

Jewish collaborationist organization in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland, named after its office at 13 Leszno Street, Warsaw, founded in Dec. 1940, led by Abraham Gancwajch, reporting directly to the German Gestapo

Siguranța was the generic name for the successive secret police services in the Kingdom of Romania. The official title of the organization changed throughout its history, with names including Directorate of the Police and General Safety (), the Secret Intelligence Service (), the Special Intelligence Service () or simply the Intelligence Service (),

former Mexican intelligence agency

Venezuelan intelligence agency

secret police in Francoist Spain

ministry of the government of Turkmenistan

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