History Main / SecretPolice

* ''VideoGame/ColonyWars: Vengeance'' has "The Watch": formed by Commander Kron after myriad intelligence failures in the Imperial Navy, The Watch functions as Kron's eyes and ears, observing the Navy fleet for any disloyalty or dissent. Those found -- or even suspected -- to be disloyal were summarily dispatched. Those who refuse offers to join The Watch also [[JoinOrDie tend to die in]] [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident "accidents"]]. [[spoiler:Ironically, The Watch's leadership is eventually discovered to, themselves, be traitors. Kron has them purged as a result.]]

* ''VideoGame/ColonyWars: Vengeance'' has "The Watch": formed by Commander Kron after myriad intelligence failures in the Imperial Navy, The Watch functions as Kron's eyes and ears, observing the Navy fleet for any disloyalty or dissent. Those found -- or even suspected -- to be disloyal were summarily dispatched. Those who refuse offers to join The Watch also [[JoinOrDie tend to die in]] [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident "accidents"]].

* The ''Crisis of Empire'' series by Creator/DavidDrake and other authors had the Kona Tatsu, whose authority included rearranging a marriage -- as in, "You're now divorced so we can have your wife make a political marriage to someone else" -- to support their agenda. Also a ''partial'' subversion/aversion, in that the KT are not, as a whole, as horribly bad as they ''pretend'' to be. They're certainly ruthless and sometimes sociopathic, but as a whole they are one of the few forces keeping civilization intact, and they know it, and some of their people try to behave decently when they can keep it from being obvious to their victims.

* [[GovernmentConspiracy They're all over]] [[BigBrotherIsWatching the place]] in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''.

* In UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica-set novel ''Literature/TheFirstRuleOfSurvival'', set in post-UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra SA, white Afrikaner policeman Vaughn de Vries comes to realise the new Internal Security department is as paranoid and repressive as the old BOSS that it replaced. Except this time, the dissaffected and possibly rebellious section of South African society whose actions and thoughts are being monitored are ''white''.

* ''Literature/TheHandmaidsTale'': The Republic's secret police are called the Eyes of God, or simply Eyes. The historical notes section does mention that lots of them were double or triple agents who spied for the Commanders but were also required to spy on them, and lots of them were also members of the resistance group Mayday.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'': There are the "Super Secret Police", who [[WithCatlikeTread have those exact words written on their vehicles]], and are also [[RedRightHand almost entirely robotic]]. While they are mainly tasked with tracking down and capturing the Master Builders,they are also seen attacking civillians and [[CallingTheCopsOnTheFBI other police officers]] by the movie's climax.

* The "Cipher Pol No. 9" ([=CP9=]) of the universe of ''Manga/OnePiece'': they're the World Government's secret assassins, trained in infiltration and in the Rokushiki (six techniques) in order to complete their missions. They have the authority to kill ''any'' citizen that is presented as a threat to the World Government, including nobility.

* Arstotzka from ''VideoGame/PapersPlease'' has the Ministry of Information's Special Investigation Division, which focuses on rooting out any and all possible enemies of the state. As if to drive the point home, M. Vonel, the agent that the player encounters throughout the game, [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/papersplease/images/a/a1/Grestininvestigator.png/revision/latest?cb=20130901145926 looks nearly identical]] to the trope image.

** The Clans have the Watch, which is more or less run independently by each Clan. As can be expected from ProudWarriorRaceGuys who despise all forms of lies and trickery and had spent 300-odd years living in complete isolation from other humans, their competence leaves a bit to be desired. 'Clan intelligence' more or less starts and ends with 'looking it up on Chatterweb' (the Clan version of social media).

** The port city of Limsa Lominsa in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has its own heroic version of SecretPolice known as the Rogue's Guild. Formerly the Upright Thieves, the Rouge's Guild works directly under Admiral Merlwyb to uphold the original [[ScoundrelCode Lominsan Code]] from the shadows while the Maelstrom (military) and Yellow Jackets (police) focus on other tasks.

* In ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', each major faction in the Inner Sphere has at least one: The Federated Suns have the MIIO, the Draconis Combine the ISF, the Lyran Commonwealth has LOKI, the Free Worlds League has SAFE, the Capellan Confederation has the Maskirovka and [[ImpartialPurposeDrivenFaction ComStar]] has ROM. LOKI and ROM cross the line into outright StateSec, the former having enough military clout to all but take over the Commonwealth in TheCoup during the backstory and ROM being heavily integrated with the [=ComGuard=].
** The Clans, meanwhile, have The Watch, which is more or less run independently by each Clan. As can be expected from ProudWarriorRaceGuys who despise all forms of lies and trickery and had spent 300-odd years living in complete isolation from other humans, their competence leaves a bit to be desired. 'Clan intelligence' more or less starts and ends with 'looking it up on Chatterweb' (the Clan version of social media).
* The Gnome nation of [[http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041129a Zilargo]], from the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' campaign setting ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'', all aspects of national security and law enforcement is handled by an order of spies, diviners and assassins known as The Trust. The Gnomes of Zilargo are mostly happy with this arrangement, since their nation has the lowest crime rate on the continent and their national pastime, intrigue, is not generally interfered with.
** This, combined with the fact that they're actually rather democratic (Zilargo has the most lax censorship laws in Eberron) means that they actually seem like a mostly normal police force who just happen to be run by a culture where elaborate schemes are looked upon as a fun diversion.
** To put it another way: in Zilargo, a gnome becomes paranoid if he thinks ''no one'' is watching him.
* For a while in ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'', Hantei XVI, better known as the Steel Chrysanthemum, instated the Steel Magistrates, which were meant to root out the many (mostly imaginary) conspiracies he thought were arrayed against him. This was seen after the fact as one of the many pieces of evidence that [[TheCaligula he was completely insane]], and [[spoiler:led to the sages [[RetGone striking most of the records of his reign from history]]]].
* Internal Security or [=IntSec=] from ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}''.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' the Zhodani Consulate enforced behaviour with their Guardians of Morality. Given that the Zhodani embraced telepathy and psionics in their society, they were real Thought Police.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
** The Inquisition of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', with three major branches, each specializing in fighting either heretics, aliens, or the forces of chaos. Also overlaps with StateSec. How ''secret'' their policing is can vary, considering some Inquisitors have become famous and well-known, but also depending on circumstances or an individual Inquisitor's preferred methods. While Inquisitor Lord Torquemada Coteaz maintains an extensive informant network throughout the Formosa Sector (said to be [[BigBrotherIsWatching at least 2 in every 3 citizens]]), others such as Inquisitor Lord Fyodor Karamazov are more likely to descend on a planet with their own personal fleet and Chamber Militants.

*** And most shadowy of all is the Officio Assassinorum. Their forte is stealth and secrecy, and as well as external threats, the Officio Assassinorum often deals with rogue planetary governors. So capable is the Officio Assassinorum that one Grand Master of Assassins, Drakan Vangorich, used the temples to slay the other High Lords of Terra and take over the Imperium himself. It took 400 Space Marines to defeat his army of 100 Eversor Assassins and the battle left one lone Space Marine of the Imperial Fists standing to claim the Grand Master's head. Since this event, deployment of even a single Assassin requires the authorisation of at least two thirds of the High Lords of Terra, and the lasting distrust means the Space Marines have '''conspiracy theories''' about them, suspecting the Officio Assassinorum of responsibility for unexplained misfortunes such as the Crimson Fists' fortress monastery being destroyed by its own defence missile.
** In ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'', Kislev, being a FantasyCounterpartCulture based on Tzarist Russia, has them. [[CrapsackWorld They are]] [[LowFantasy not nice.]]

* ''Series/WorldOnFire'': The Gestapo investigate the Rosslers after Mr. Rossler killed a Nazi woman to protect his daughter, and interrogate them both harshly.

* In ''Manga/SpyXFamily'', Yuri Briar is secretly an interrogator for the Ostanian government, and one of his goals is to capture Twilight, the rival nation of Westalis's greatest spy. HilarityEnsues because Twilight is currently posing as his sister Yor's husband, Loid Forger.

* The Obsidian Order and Section 31 in ''Franchise/StarTrek''. Section 31 is notable because it (an amoral, covert agency) operates within TheFederation (who typically acts in the open and does the right choice). However, Section 31 is more of a Secret Society than a Secret Police.

* The alternate history novel ''Literature/ForWantOfANail'' gives us the Constabulary, an organization put together by the United States of Mexico during a time of civil unrest and guerrilla terrorist activity in the hopes of restoring order and stability. And while this works, it ultimately backfires, as the Constabulary's commandant, [[MeaningfulName Benito]] Hermion, with the backing of [[MegaCorp Kramer Associates]], stages a coup and takes control of the country.
* In the later ''Literature/GarrettPI'' novels, Deal Relway's Unpublished Committee for Royal Security becomes a covert law-enforcement force to be reckoned with in post-war [=TunFaire=]. Still marginally an agency of good, but likely to turn toxic if Relway ever runs out of genuine malefactors to target or gets replaced by someone less righteous.

* The Seekers from ''Literature/TheHeritageOfShannara'' are somewhere between this and StateSec. With their {{Black Cloak}}s and wolf's head pins, they are among the most feared people in the entire [[TheEmpire Federation]].

* In David Weber's [[Literature/HonorHarrington Honorverse]], the People's Republic of Haven had a number of secret agencies: