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 In most cases they are no longer current because the regime that ran them was overthrown or changed, or they changed their names.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 (KHAD) (Government Intelligence Service), active in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

Albania[]

Drejtorija e Sigurimit të Shtetit (Sigurimi) (Directorate of State Security), active in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania

Algeria[]

Département du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (Department of Intelligence and Security)

Angola[]

Directorate of Information and Security of Angola (Direcção de Informação e Segurança de Angola) (DISA), active in the People's Republic of Angola

Argentina[]

(SERC) (Special Section for the Repression of Communism)
(DIPA) (Political Anti-democratic Information Division)

Austria[]

Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police), active in the Austrian Empire

Bolivia[]

(SES) (Special Security Service)

Brazil[]

Departamento de Operações Internas-Centro de Operações de Defesa Interna (DOI-CODI) (Internal Operations Department-Centre for Internal Defence Operations), active during the military dictatorship (1964–1985)

Bulgaria[]

Komitet za dǎržavna sigurnost (CDS) (The Committee for State Security), 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[]

(National Centre for Study and Research)

Central African Republic[]

Force spéciale de défense des institutions républicaines (FORSIDIR) (The Presidential Lifeguard)
Unité de sécurité présidentielle (USP) (Presidential Security Organisation – acted as the main secret organisation before and after FORSIDIR)
Office central de répression du banditisme (OCRB) (Central Office of Banditry Repression)

Chad[]

(DDS) (Directorate of Documentation and Security)

Chile[]

Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) (National Intelligence Directorate), active during the regime of Augusto Pinochet
Central Nacional de Informaciones (CNI) (National Information Centre), active during the regime of Augusto Pinochet

China[]

Jinyiwei (Ming Dynasty) (1368–1661)
Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Republic of China) (1938–1946)

Colombia[]

Administrative Department of Security Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) (1960–2011)

Congo, People's Republic of[]

General Directorate for State Security (French: Direction Générale de la Sécurité de l'État)^[1]

Croatia, Independent State of[]

Ravnateljstvo za javni red i sigurnost (RAVSIGUR) (Directorate for Public Order and Security) / Glavno ravnateljstvo za javni red i sigurnost (GRAVSIGUR) (General Directorate for Public Order and Security)
Ustaška nadzorna služba (UNS) (Ustaše Surveillance Service)

Cuba[]

Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (Batista government)

Czechoslovakia[]

Státní bezpečnost / Štátna bezpečnosť (StB / ŠtB) (State Security), active in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

Dominican Republic[]

Servicio Inteligencia Militar (SIM) – Military Intelligence Service under Rafael Trujillo

Egypt[]

State Security Investigations Service (Mabahith Amn al-Dawla al-'Ulya)

Finland[]

Etsivä keskuspoliisi (EK) (1919–1937) (transl. "Detecting central police")
Valtiollinen poliisi (Valpo) (1937–1949) (transl. "State police")

Germany[]

Preußische Geheimpolizei (Prussian Secret Police) – 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 (Gestapo) (Secret State Police) – active in Nazi Germany
Geheime Feldpolizei (Secret Field Police) – The Wehrmacht's version of the Gestapo
SS-Sicherheitsdienst (SS Security Service) – The intelligence agency of the Nazi Party and the SS
Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS or Stasi) (Ministry for State Security) – active in the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War

Greece[]

Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle (OPLA)^[2]^[3]
Greek Military Police, active as a secret police force during the Greek military junta

Guatemala[]

(Judicial Police)
(PMA) (Mobile Military Police)
Guardia de Hacienda (Palace Guard)
(Centre for Special Presidential Services)

Haiti[]

(SD) (Information Service)^[4]
Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale (MVSN) (Militia of National Security Volunteers, better known as the Tonton Macoutes), active during the Duvalier dynasty

Honduras[]

(DNI) (National Investigation Department)

Hungary[]

Államvédelmi Osztály (ÁVO) (State Protection Department)
Államvédelmi Hatóság (ÁVH) (State Protection Authority)

Indonesia[]

Komando Pemulihan Keamanan dan Ketertiban (Kopkamtib) (Security and Order Restoration Command), active during the regime of Suharto

Iran[]

Sazeman-i Ettelaat va Amniyat-i Keshvar (SAVAK) (National Organization for Intelligence and Security), active in the Imperial State of Iran

Iraq[]

Jihaz Al-Mukhabarat Al-A'ma (Mukhabarat) (Iraqi Intelligence Service), active in Ba'athist Iraq

Ireland[]

Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

Italy[]

Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dell'Antifascismo (OVRA) (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism), active in Fascist Italy and the Italian Social Republic under the rule of Benito Mussolini

Japan[]

Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu (Tokkō) (Special Higher Police)
Kenpeitai (Military Police Corps), secret military police of the Imperial Army, later the army and navy
Tokubetsu Keisatsutai (Tokkeitai) (Special Police Corps), secret military police of the Imperial Navy, duties later assumed by the Kenpeitai

South Korea[]

Korea Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA)
Agency for National Security Planning (ANSP)

Mexico[]

Dirección Federal de Seguridad (DFS) (Federal Security Directorate)
(DIPD) (Investigation Division for the Prevention of Delinquency)

Mongolia[]

Dotood Yam (Ministry of Internal Affairs), active in the Mongolian People's Republic

Mozambique[]

(SNASP)^[5]

Nicaragua[]

(DGSE) (Directorate-General of State Security)

(MSI) (Ministry of Internal Security)

Nigeria[]

Nigerian Security Organization (NSO)

Ottoman Empire[]

Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa (Special Organization)

Paraguay[]

Pyraguës (Between 1814 and 1840, nicknamed Hairy Feet by civilians)
(Technical Division for the Repression of Communism), active during the El Stronato period, the single-party military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner^{[citation needed]}
(DIPC) (Police Investigations Department), active during the El Stronato period, the single-party military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner

Peru[]

(State Security)
División Contra el Terrorismo (Anti-Terrorism Division)

Philippines[]

Military 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 (UBP) (1945–1954) – Office of Public Safety, active in the Polish People's Republic
Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB) (1956–1989) – Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), active in the Polish People's Republic

Portugal[]

Polícia Preventiva (Preventive Police): 1918–1919, active in the First Portuguese Republic
Polícia de Segurança do Estado (State Security Police): 1919, active in the First Portuguese Republic
Polícia de Defesa Social (Social Defense Police): 1919–1926, active in the First Portuguese Republic
Polícia de Informações (Informations Police): 1926–1931, active during the Ditadura Nacional period
Polícia de Vigilância Política e Social (Political and Social Surveillance Police): 1933, active during the Ditadura Nacional period
Polícia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado (State Defence and Surveillance Police): 1933–1945, active during the Estado Novo regime under the rule of António de Oliveira Salazar
Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado – PIDE (International and State Defence Police): 1945–1968, active during the Estado Novo regime under the rule of António de Oliveira Salazar
Direcção-Geral de Segurança (Directorate-General of Security): 1968–1974, active during the Estado Novo regime under the rule of Marcelo Caetano

Republic of China (Taiwan)[]

Taiwan Garrison Command

Roman Empire[]

Agentes in rebus
Frumentarii
Cohors Praetoria (SPQR) (Praetorian Guard) An ancient Roman institution in charge of the Roman Emperor's safety.

Romania[]

Departamentul Securităţii statului (Securitate) (Department of State Security), active in the Socialist Republic of Romania

Russian Monarchy[]

Oprichniki (1565–1573) under Ivan the Terrible
Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (1825–1880) under Nicholas I of Russia
Special Corps of Gendarmes (1836–1917)
Okhrannoye otdeleniye (Okhrana, 1866–1917)

Rwanda[]

(SCR) (Central Information Service)

El Salvador[]

Organización Democrática Nacionalista (ORDEN) (Nationalist Democratic Organization)
(FDN) (Nationalist Democratic Front)

Singapore[]

Somalia[]

National Security Service, active in the Somali Democratic Republic^[6]
Hangash (Military Intelligence Unit), active in the Somali Democratic Republic
Victory Pioneers (Neighbourhood watch), active in the Somali Democratic Republic
(Division of military police), active in the Somali Democratic Republic
Red Berets (Presidential bodyguards), active in the Somali Democratic Republic

South Africa[]

Bureau of State Security (BOSS), active during the Apartheid era

Soviet Union[]

All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (Cheka, 1917–22)
State Political Directorate (GPU, 1922–23)
Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU, 1923–34)
People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD 1934–46)
Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB 1934–41)
People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB, Feb Jul-1941/1943–46)
Ministry for State Security (MGB, 1946–53)
Committee for State Security (KGB, 1954–91)

Spain[]

Servicio de Información Militar (Military Information Service), active in the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War
Brigada Político-Social (BPS) (Political-Social Brigade) / Brigada de Investigación Social (BIS) (Social Investigation Brigade), active in Francoist Spain
Servicio Central de Documentación (SECED) (Central Documentation Service)
Servicio de Inteligencia de la Guardia Civil (Intelligence Service of the Civil Guard)

Turkey[]

Jandarma İstihbarat ve Terörle Mücadele (JİTEM) (Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism), active during the Kurdish-Turkish conflict

Uganda[]

State Research Bureau

United States of America[]

COINTELPRO, a program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that included operations directed against Communists, anti-Vietnam War organizers, the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, feminist organizations, anti-colonial movements, and the New Left generally, as well as operations directed against white supremacist and far-right groups.
, a program of the United States Army that investigated and engaged in counterintelligence activities against civil rights and anti-Vietnam War organizations.^[7]
CONARC, the United States Army Continental Army Command, operated a separate program paralleling .^[8]
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, largely confined to the State of Mississippi to resist desegregations

Uruguay[]

(Anti-Subversive Activities Co-ordination Organization)

Venezuela[]

South Vietnam[]

Social and Political Research Service (So Nghien Cuu Xa Hoi Chinh Tri) (during the regime of Ngo Dinh Diem)^[9] =

Yugoslavia[]

Department for People's Protection (OZNA, 1944–1946), active in Democratic Federal Yugoslavia
State Security Administration (UDBA, 1946–1991), active in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Counterintelligence Service (KOS, 1946–1991)
State Security Service (SDB, 1991–2002), active in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Security Administration (1992–2002)

Zaire[]

Centre Nationale de Documentation (CND) (National Documentation Center) – 1969-early 1980s
Agence Nationale de Documentation (AND) (National Documentation Agency) – Early 1980s – August 1990
Service National d'Intelligence et de Protection (SNIP) (National Service for Intelligence and Protection) (August 1990 – May 1997)^[10]

Notes[]

^ John F. Clark and Samuel Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo, Fourth Edition (2012), page 134.
^ Novo, Andrew (2019). "Birth of the Cold War: irregular warfare first blood in Greece". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 30 (1): 31–61. doi:10.1080/09592318.2018.1554338. S2CID 150452858.
^ Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2015). "Rebel Governance During the Greek Civil War, 1942–1949". Rebel Governance in Civil War. Cambridge University Press. pp. 119–137. ISBN 978-1-107-10222-4.
^ Abbott, Elizabeth (1988). Haiti: An insider's history of the rise and fall of the Duvaliers. Simon & Schuster. p. 116 ISBN 0-671-68620-8
^ "Mozambique: Six Months After Independence" Archived 2007-12-17 at the Wayback Machine AliciaPatterson.org. Accessed on May 29, 2008.
^ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+so0125)
^ Halloran, Richard, "Army Spied on 18,000 Civilians in 2-Year Operation," New York Times, Jan. 18, 1971, p. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/18/archives/army-spied-on-18000-civilians-in-2year-operation-army-fed-names-of.html
^ Gibbons, William Conrad, The U.S. Government and the Vietnam War: Executive and Legislative Roles and Relationships, Part IV: July 1965-January 1968 (Princeton Legacy Library), p. 854.
^ Smith, Harvey Henry, Area Handbook for South Vietnam: Volume 550, Issue 55, p. 220 (1967). U.S. Government Printing Office
^ Glickson, Roger C.; Sinai, Joshua (1994). "The Intelligence Apparatus and Security Forces". In Meditz, Sandra W.; Merrill, Tim (eds.). Zaire: a country study (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p. 319. ISBN 0-8444-0795-X. OCLC 30666705.

[1] John F. Clark and Samuel Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo, Fourth Edition (2012), page 134.

[2] Novo, Andrew (2019). "Birth of the Cold War: irregular warfare first blood in Greece". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 30 (1): 31–61. doi:10.1080/09592318.2018.1554338. S2CID 150452858.

[3] Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2015). "Rebel Governance During the Greek Civil War, 1942–1949". Rebel Governance in Civil War. Cambridge University Press. pp. 119–137. ISBN 978-1-107-10222-4.

[4] Abbott, Elizabeth (1988). Haiti: An insider's history of the rise and fall of the Duvaliers. Simon & Schuster. p. 116 ISBN 0-671-68620-8

[5] "Mozambique: Six Months After Independence" Archived 2007-12-17 at the Wayback Machine AliciaPatterson.org. Accessed on May 29, 2008.

[6] ttp://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+so0125)

[7] Halloran, Richard, "Army Spied on 18,000 Civilians in 2-Year Operation," New York Times, Jan. 18, 1971, p. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/18/archives/army-spied-on-18000-civilians-in-2year-operation-army-fed-names-of.html

[8] Gibbons, William Conrad, The U.S. Government and the Vietnam War: Executive and Legislative Roles and Relationships, Part IV: July 1965-January 1968 (Princeton Legacy Library), p. 854.

[9] Smith, Harvey Henry, Area Handbook for South Vietnam: Volume 550, Issue 55, p. 220 (1967). U.S. Government Printing Office

[:5-10] Glickson, Roger C.; Sinai, Joshua (1994). "The Intelligence Apparatus and Security Forces". In Meditz, Sandra W.; Merrill, Tim (eds.). Zaire: a country study (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p. 319. ISBN 0-8444-0795-X. OCLC 30666705.

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hide v t Secret police agencies in the Eastern Bloc
Gulag Iron Curtain Telephone tapping in the Eastern Bloc Berlin Wall Inner German border
Soviet Union	Extraordinary Commission (Cheka) State Political Directorate (GPU) Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB) People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB) Ministry of State Security (MGB) Committee for State Security (KGB)
People's Socialist Republic of Albania	Directorate of State Security (Sigurimi)
People's Republic of Bulgaria	Committee for State Security (DS)
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic	State Security (StB)
German Democratic Republic	Ministry for State Security (Stasi)
Hungarian People's Republic	State Protection Authority (ÁVH)
Polish People's Republic	Ministry of Public Security (MBP and UB/SB)
Socialist Republic of Romania	Department of State Security (Securitate)
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	Department of National Security (OZNA) Department of State Security (UDBA) Counterintelligence Service (KOS)