List of historical secret police organizations
This is a list of historical secret police organizations. In most cases they are no longer current because the regime that ran them was overthrown or changed, or they changed their names. Few still exist under the same name as legitimate police forces.
Agencies by country
[Afghanistan]
- Khedamat-e Etelea'at-e Dawlati, active in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
- * WAD
[Albania]
- Sigurimi, active in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania
[Algeria]
[Angola]
[Argentina]
[Austria]
- Geheime Staatspolizei '', active in the Austrian Empire
[Bangladesh]
- Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini was a Bangladeshi para-military force formed in 1972 by the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman government.
[Bolivia]
[Brazil]
- 4th Auxiliary Police Bureau
- Departamento de Ordem Política e Social, active during the Estado Novo and the military dictatorship
- Departamento de Operações Internas-Centro de Operações de Defesa Interna, active during the military dictatorship
[Bulgaria]
- Committee for [State Security (Bulgaria)|Komitet za dǎržavna sigurnost], most commonly referred to as the State Security, or DS, active in the People's Republic of Bulgaria
[Cambodia]
- Santebal – secret police during the Khmer Rouge period
[Cameroon]
[Central African Republic]
- Force spéciale de défense des institutions républicaines
- Unité de sécurité présidentielle
- Office central de répression du banditisme
[Chad]
[Chile]
- Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional, active during the regime of Augusto Pinochet
- Central Nacional de Informaciones, active during the regime of Augusto Pinochet
[China]
[Colombia]
Congo, People's Republic of">People's Republic of the Congo">Congo, People's Republic of
- General Directorate for State Security
Croatia, Independent State of">Independent State of Croatia">Croatia, Independent State of
- Ravnateljstvo za javni red i sigurnost / Glavno ravnateljstvo za javni red i sigurnost
- ''Ustaška nadzorna služba''
[Cuba]
[Czechoslovakia]
[Dominican Republic]
[Egypt]
[Finland]
[Germany]
- Preußische Geheimpolizei – active in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Confederation, the North German Confederation, the German Empire and the Weimar Republic; merged in the Gestapo
- Geheime Staatspolizei – active in Nazi Germany
- Geheime Feldpolizei – The Wehrmacht's version of the Gestapo
- SS-Sicherheitsdienst – The intelligence agency of the Nazi Party and the SS
- Ministerium für Staatssicherheit – active in the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War
Greece
- Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle
- *National Civil Guard
- *People's Civil Guard
- Greek Military Police, active as a secret police force during the Greek military junta
[Guatemala]
- Cuerpo de Detectives
- Policía Judicial
- Policía Militar Ambulate
- Guardia de Hacienda
- Centro de Servicios Especiales de la Presidencia
[Haiti]
- Service d'Information
- Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale, active during the Duvalier dynasty
[Honduras]
[Hong Kong]
[Hungary]
[Indonesia]
[Iran]
- Sazeman-i Ettelaat va Amniyat-i Keshvar, active in the Imperial State of Iran
[Iraq]
- Shurta, secret police of the Abbasid caliphs active during the Abbasid Empire
- Jihaz Al-Mukhabarat Al-A'ma, active in Ba'athist Iraq
[Ireland]
[Italy]
- Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dell'Antifascismo, active in Fascist Italy and the Italian Social Republic under the rule of Benito Mussolini
[Japan]
- Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu
- Kempeitai, secret military police of the Imperial Army, later the army and navy
- Tokubetsu Keisatsutai, secret military police of the Imperial Navy, duties later assumed by the Kenpeitai
[Mexico]
[Mongolia]
- Dotood Yam, active in the Mongolian People's Republic
[Mozambique]
[Nicaragua]
[Nigeria]
[Ottoman Empire]
[Paraguay]
- Pyraguës
- División Técnica de Represión del Comunismo, active during the El Stronato period, the single-party military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner
- Departamento de Investigaciones de la Policía, active during the El Stronato period, the single-party military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner
[Peru]
[Philippines]
- Metrocom Intelligence and Security Group, active during the rule of Ferdinand Marcos
- National Intelligence and Security Authority or NISA, active during the rule of Ferdinand Marcos. Headed by Marcos' trusted military man, General Fabian Ver, who was also the commander of presidential security and in 1981, was appointed as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
[Poland]
- Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego – Office of Public Safety, active in the Polish People's Republic
- Służba Bezpieczeństwa, active in the Polish People's Republic
[Portugal]
- Polícia Preventiva : 1918–1919, active in the First Portuguese Republic
- Polícia de Segurança do Estado : 1919, active in the First Portuguese Republic
- Polícia de Defesa Social : 1919–1926, active in the First Portuguese Republic
- Polícia de Informações : 1926–1931, active during the Ditadura Nacional period
- Polícia de Vigilância Política e Social : 1933, active during the Ditadura Nacional period
- Polícia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado : 1933–1945, active during the Estado Novo regime under the rule of António de Oliveira Salazar
- Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado – PIDE : 1945–1968, active during the Estado Novo regime under the rule of António de Oliveira Salazar
- Direcção-Geral de Segurança : 1968–1974, active during the Estado Novo regime under the rule of Marcelo Caetano
[Republic of China] (Taiwan)
[Roman Empire]
- Agentes in rebus
- Frumentarii
- Cohors Praetoria – An ancient Roman institution in charge of the Roman emperor's safety.
[Romania]
- Direcția Poliției și Siguranței Generale, active in the Kingdom of Romania
- Departamentul Securităţii statului, active in Bolshevik Romania
Russian monarchy">Tsarist autocracy">Russian monarchy
- Oprichniki, under Ivan the Terrible
- Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery, under Nicholas I of Russia
- Separate Corps of Gendarmes
- Okhrana
[Rwanda]
[El Salvador]
[Singapore]
[Somalia]
- National Security Service, active in the Somali Democratic Republic
- Hangash, active in the Somali Democratic Republic
- Victory Pioneers, active in the Somali Democratic Republic
- Dhabar Jabinta, active in the Somali Democratic Republic
- Red Berets, active in the Somali Democratic Republic
[South Africa]
- Republican Intelligence, active during the Apartheid era
- Bureau of State Security, active during the Apartheid era
[Soviet Union]
- Soviet secret police
- All-Russian Extraordinary Commission
- State Political Directorate
- Joint State Political Directorate
- People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs
- Main Directorate of State Security
- People's Commissariat for State Security
- Ministry for State Security
- Committee for State Security
[Spain]
- Servicio de Información Militar, active in the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil WarBrigada Político-Social / Brigada de Investigación Social, active in Francoist Spain
- Servicio Central de Documentación
- ''Servicio de Inteligencia de la Guardia Civil''
Syria">Ba'athist Syria">Syria
National Security Bureau- Air Force Intelligence Directorate
- General Intelligence Directorate
- Political Security Directorate
- Military Intelligence Directorate
[Uganda]
[United States]
- Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, largely confined to the State of Mississippi to resist desegregations.
[Uruguay]
[Venezuela]
[South Vietnam]
- Social and Political Research Service
[Yugoslavia]
- Department for People's Protection, active in Democratic Federal Yugoslavia
- State Security Administration, active in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- Counterintelligence Service
- State Security Service, active in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- Security Administration
[Zaire]
- Centre Nationale de Documentation – 1969-early 1980s
- Agence Nationale de Documentation – Early 1980s – August 1990
- ''Service National d'Intelligence et de Protection''