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 In most cases they are no longer current because the regime that ran them was overthrown or changed, or they changed their names.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)

Albania

• Drejtorija e Sigurimit të Shtetit (Sigurimi) (Directorate of State Security)

Angola

• Directorate of Information and Security of Angola (Direcção de Informação e Segurança de Angola) (DISA)

Argentina

• Sección Especial de Represión al Comunismo (SERC) (Special Section for the Repression of Communism)
• División de Información Política Antidemocrática (DIPA) (Political Anti-democratic Information Division)

Bolivia

• Servicio Especial de Seguridad (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)

Cambodia

• Santebal - secret police during the Khmer Rouge period

Cameroon

• Centre National d'Étude et de Recherche (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

• Direction de la Documentation et de la Sécurité (DDS) (Directorate of Documentation and Security)

Chile

• Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA) (National Intelligence Directorate)
• Central Nacional de Informaciones (CNI) (National Information Centre)

China

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

Congo, People's Republic of

• General Directorate for State Security (French: Direction Générale de la Sécurité de l'État)

Cuba

• Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (Batista government)

Czechoslovakia

• Státní bezpečnost / Štátna bezpečnosť (StB / ŠtB) (State Security)

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

• Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) (Secret State Police) - active in Nazi Germany
• 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) - East German organisation active during the Cold War era

Greece

• Greek Military Police

Guatemala

• Policía Judicial (Judicial Police)
• Policía Militar Ambulate (PMA) (Mobile Military Police)
• Guardia de Hacienda (Palace Guard)
• Centro de Servicios Especiales de la Presidencia (Centre for Special Presidential Services)

Haiti

• Service d'Information (SD) (Information Service)
• Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale (MVSN) (Militia of National Security Volunteers, better known as the Tonton Macoutes)

Honduras

• Departamento Nacional de Investigaciones (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)

Iran

• Sazeman-i Ettelaat va Amniyat-i Keshvar (SAVAK) (National Organization for Intelligence and Security)

Iraq

• Jihaz Al-Mukhabarat Al-A'ma (Mukhabarat) (Iraqi Intelligence Service)

Ireland

• Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

Italy

• Organizzazione di Vigilanza Repressione dell'Antifascismo (OVRA) (Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism)

Japan

• Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu (Tokko) (Special Higher Police)

South Korea

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

Mexico

• División de Investigaciones para la Prevención de la Delincuencia (DIPD) (Investigation Division for the Prevention of Delinquency)

Mozambique

• National Service of Popular Security (SNASP)

Nicaragua

• Dirección General de Seguridad del Estado (DGSE) (Directorate-General of State Security)

Nigeria

• Nigerian Security Organization (NSO)

Paraguay

• Pyraguës (Between 1814 to 1840, nicknamed Hairy Feet by civilians)
• División Técnica de Represión del Comunismo (Technical Division for the Repression of Communism)
• Departamento de Investigaciones de la Policía (DIPC) (Police Investigations Department)

Peru

• Seguridad del Estado (State Security)
• División Contra el Terrorismo (Anti-Terrorism Division)

Philippines

• Military Intelligence and Security Group under the Ferdinand Marcos
• National Intelligence and Security Authority or NISA under Ferdinand Marcos, the powerful of the two secret police forces of the Philippines. Headed by Marcos' trusted military man, General Fabian Ver, who was also the commander of presidential security and on 1981, was named to be concurrent chief of staff of the armed forces.

Poland

• Urząd Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego (UBP) 1945-1954 (Office of Public Safety)
• Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB) 1956-1989 (Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs)

Portugal

• Policia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado (PVDE) (Vigilance and State Defence Police)
• Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado (PIDE) (International and State Defence Police)
• Direcção Geral de Segurança (DGS) (Directorate-General of Security)

Prussia

• Preußische Geheimpolizei (Prussian Secret Police)

Republic of China (Taiwan)

• Taiwan Garrison Command

Roman Empire

• Agentes in rebus
• Frumentarii

Romania

• Departamentul Securităţii statului (Securitate) (Department of State Security)

Russia

• Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery
• Special Corps of Gendarmes
• Okhrannoye otdeleniye (Okhrana or slang Okhranka) (Security Section) (1866–1917)
• Oprichniki (1565–1573) under Ivan the Terrible
• Cheka (1917–1922) under Bolsheviks

Rwanda

• Service Central de Renseignements (SCR) (Central Information Service)

El Salvador

• Organización Democrática Nacionalista (ORDEN) (Nationalist Democratic Organization)
• Frente Democrático Nacionalista (FDN) (Nationalist Democratic Front)

Singapore

• Special Branch

Somalia

• National Security Service
• Hangash (Military Intelligence Unit)

South Africa

• Bureau of State Security (BOSS)

Soviet Union

Main article: Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies

• Cheka (1917–22, All-Russian Extraordinary Commission)
• State Political Directorate (GPU, 1922–23) (State Political Directorate)
• State Political Directorate (OGPU, 1923–34) (Joint State Political Directorate)
• NKVD (1934–46) (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs)
• Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD, 1946–54) (Ministry for Internal Affairs)
• Ministry of State Security (MGB, 1943–53) (Ministry for State Security)
• KGB (1954–91)

Uganda

• Public Safety Unit
• State Research Bureau

United States of America

• Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, largely confined to one state

Uruguay

• Organismo Coordinador de Actividades Anti-Subversivas (Anti-Subversive Activities Co-ordination Organization)

Venezuela

• Bolivarian Intelligence Service
• Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (DIM)
• National Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP)

Yugoslavia

• State Security Administration (UDBA)

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

See also

• List of fictional secret police and intelligence organizations
• List of secret police organizations
• Police
• Secret police