History Main / PoLiceState

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', BarbarianHero Karlach's ArchEnemy Lord Enver Gortash pulls a TyrantTakesTheHelm on the titular city, brainwashing the duke (Wyll's father) into naming him Archduke, upon which he turns the city guards known as the Flaming Fist into his personal footsoldiers, arrests all the ReasonableAuthorityFigures opposing him, turns the city's most popular newspaper into a PropagandaMachine, and has towering {{magitek}} MechaMooks kill people for petty crimes. Meanwhile, the [[GullibleLemmings citizenry]] regard all of this as RepressiveButEfficient due to the climate of fear maintained by the BigBad [[spoiler:which he helped create, as he was RunningBothSides as [[TheAntichrist the Chosen of the god of tyranny, Bane]]]].

PoliceBrutality is the standard operating procedure here and they are most likely [[DirtyCop incredibly corrupt]]. One popular portrayal is having them [[WeWillWearArmorInTheFuture dressed]] [[OddlyOvertrainedSecurity perpetually as]] {{SWAT Team}}s. If they need a vehicle, they aren't likely [[BlackHelicopter to settle]] [[TankGoodness for a car]]. FascistsBedTime will be enforced.

* In ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'', the Amaterasu Corporation Peacekeepers effectively run Kanai Ward, or at least [[DirtyCop as badly as they possibly can]]. Those who defy them become a target for them in an instant, and they relentlessly pursue their targets. All they care about is their reputation, so naturally, Kanai Ward becomes a dystopian hellhole thanks to them.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': The setting's sole surviving human settlement is run by a powerful self-aware computer who is also, unfortunately, quite insane, and is absolutely convinced that every misfortune real or imagined is caused by communist or mutant saboteurs, despite most forms of communist theory or texts having been lost for centuries (the mutants are quite real, however). The Computer is ''always'' watching, and anybody who engages in communist activity, a mutant, can in any way be misidentified as part of those two groups, or runs afoul of the Computer's many, many badly-worded and contradictory laws is in for an unpleasant time.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1445192135068952800
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

Variants: CulturePolice, SecretPolice, StateSec. Subtrope of TheDictatorship and {{Dystopia}}. An America that has become one of these is an OppressiveStatesOfAmerica.

%%* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Amestris is a military-police state. On the other hand, it's more or less justified, as [[spoiler: the entire country was created for the sole purpose of housing Father's giant transmutation circle for godhood, so he's the {{Chessmaster}} behind the government as well.]]
%%* ''Manga/DeathNote'': The '''whole world''' practically functions as [[KnightTemplar Light]] [[AGodAmI Yagami]]'s own personal Police State for 6 years after [[spoiler: L's death.]]; With Kira's law being the only law and people worshipping and obeying him as a god.

** Dredd's own Mega City One is often shown to be one of, if not ''the'' nicest, or at the very least less-corrupt, places on Earth. Other cities, on the rare occasions they are featured in the main continuity, are variously portrayed as corrupt, criminal regimes, run by Freemasons, falling apart, nuked, even more oppressive, infested with zombies, religious dictatorships or [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking horrifically cheery themepark versions of Ireland.]] The world of Judge Dredd is such a CrapsackWorld that if your city is ''just'' a police state, you're incredibly lucky!
** Outside the Mega Cities, the [[AfterTheEnd Cursed Earth]] is less dictatorial, but generally far less pleasant overall.

%%* The Planet Georwell in ''Comicbook/JusticeMachine''.
%%* Latveria was like this before Doctor Doom came to power; he just does it ''better'', partly by using an army of killer robots instead of a human SecretPolice. How pleasant or otherwise a place to live the country is for the ordinary Latverian [[DependingOnTheWriter varies by continuity and writer]], but knowing Doom it's a safe bet that the trains really ''do'' run on time.

%%* In ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'', Gotham has become this when Simon Saint and his Magistrate ends up being becoming the new police following the mysterious "A-Day". In the mainstream continuity, in ''ComicBook/BatmanJamesTynionIV'', it seems to be heading in that direction [[spoiler:until the Scarecrow, realizing just how terrified Gotham is, decides to hijack the plan]].

[[folder:Fanfics]]
* The LemonyNarrator of ''[[FanFic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed Equestria: A History Revealed]]'' seems to believe she's living in one, with Celestia's secret police, fallacy police, and paranoid police. But with that last one, coupled with her ConspiracyTheorist nature, it's [[PlayedForLaughs probably just all in her head.]]

* ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' is a unique variant where the Police State is ''laughably'' incompetent, clearly beginning to collapse under the weight of its own bureaucracy, and somehow manages to [[HanlonsRazor do far more harm than it would if it were deliberately malevolent instead of simply stupid]].
* ''Film/ChildrenOfMen'': In 2027, after 18 years of global human infertility, civilization is on the brink of collapse as humanity faces extinction. The United Kingdom, the only stable nation with a functioning government, is deluged by asylum seekers fleeing the chaos and war which have taken hold around the world. In response, Britain has become a militarized police state as British government forces round up and detain immigrants.
* ''Film/CryFreedom'': It's set in South Africa during UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra, therefore this naturally is the case. The very first scene shows white police violently breaking up a temporary settlement by black people. South African police are the main representatives of the apartheid regime throughout the movie, constantly harassing, detaining or even killing dissidents. TruthInTelevision for the time.
* The government of Libria from ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'', whose anti-emotion laws are enforced by [[FacelessGoons motorcycle-helmeted Sweepers]] and GunKata trained [[BadassLongcoat Grammaton Clerics]].

%%* In ''Film/AClockworkOrange'' it's strongly implied that the government is devolving into one of these. The "cure" itself even comes about because they need to free up space for future political prisoners, and the government starts recruiting street thugs as police (including Alex's former "droogs").
%%* America becomes this after the Big One in ''Film/EscapeFromLA''. It's implied to have been heading this way in ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''.

* ''Film/WhatHappenedToMonday'' has a daily presence of guards trying to detect any second or third children in a nation that has adopted a one-child policy, promising to cryogenically freeze any children in hopes that a future world will have less population. [[spoiler: [[KillItWithFire They don't freeze them]].]]

%%* Creator/CSLewis has something of a pattern here:
%%** ''Literature/ThatHideousStrength'': The National Institute for the Coordination of Science (N.I.C.E). Despite its innocent name, the Institute manages to gain enough power to create this.
%%** ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'': Hell is one of these, perhaps unsurprisingly.
%%** In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', everything ruled by Jadis/the White Witch.
%%* Oceania in the George Orwell novel ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', with probably the biggest example being the Thought Police.
%%* ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}''
%%* Randall Flagg's Las Vegas colony in ''Literature/TheStand'' probably applies here, considering people are frequently crucified for crimes.

%%* Inquisitor Umbridge tries her best to turn Hogwarts into one in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''. Voldemort turns the Wizarding world of England into one in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''.
* TheFederation in ''Literature/{{Shannara}}'' is like this, especially in ''Literature/TheHeritageOfShannara'', when it was a xenophobic, expansionist state, where magic was outlawed, StateSec controlled all aspects of life, and [[TheHeartless The Shadowen]] were pulling the strings.
* Creator/TomSharpe's ''Literature/{{Piemberg}}'' farces, set in UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra, center on the South African Police Force in the sleepy city of Piemberg, a place stuck in a late-Victorian time warp where colonial mentalities prevail (on the part of British South Africans) and a desire to replay the Boer War exists (on the part of Afrikaners). Both ethnicities unite in despising and distrusting blacks, however, and this is where the racist and incompetent SAPD excels. And beyond the regular uniformed police is BOSS, the Bureau of State Security. Headed locally by a psychotic and hysterical paranoic called Verkramp, who sees conspiracies against a White South Africa - ''everywhere''. HilarityEnsues.
* [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Westeros]] was this during the tenure of Brynden “Lord Bloodraven” Rivers as Hand of the King. As he was a particularly powerful [[TheBeastmaster skinchanger]][[note]]A refrain about him said [[ArcWords “How many eyes does Lord Bloodraven have? A thousand eyes and one.]][[/note]]who could control ravens, a [[DreamingOfThingsToCome greenseer]] and had a good knack for glamours, he was able to spy on quite a lot of people in order to root out any Blackfyre sympathizers (real or not) and punish them. As shown in [[Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight]], a lot of people felt that they couldn’t speak openly for fear of being perceived as treasonous.
%%** ''Paradyzja'', whose government spreads paranoia about Earth wanting to attack them, but actually fears its own citizens.
* The lunar colony in ''Literature/VanTroffsCylinder'', supposed to be the means for humanity's "best" to survive while Earth is uninhabitable. Because of this, Luna runs on "lifeboat rules", with tight PopulationControl and fervent suppression of rumours that the next generation of lunarians might be unable to survive in Earth gravity.

* ''Series/TheBarrier'': New Spain became a dictatorship twenty-five years prior to the beginning of the series. In one episode, two government officials discuss the fact that the police is gaining too much power. Meanwhile, corruption and casual PoliceBrutality are already a reality for the large portion of the population that isn't part of the political or economical elite.

* ''Series/ClassOf09'': The US has become one by 2034, with [[BigBrotherIsWatching constant surveillance]] of citizens and [[PrecrimeArrest preventative arrests]] just for what they ''might'' do, as calculated by the AI system the FBI now has. Enough support this it seems as a result of crime falling drastically given such measures that it's maintained at first. [[spoiler:The AI is later overthrown however, with the prior status quo restored.]]

** An inversion is seen in the serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E2TheHappinessPatrol The Happiness Patrol]]" from 1988. The eponymous patrol used their "fun guns" and pink uniforms to suppress anyone seeming miserable or unhappy, whom they labelled "Killjoys". Some were executed by means of deadly sweets...
** Played straight in "Turn Left", which shows how a universe without the Doctor would play out. As London and most of its surrounding area is wiped out by the crash of the ''Titanic'' (which the Doctor prevented in "Voyage of the Damned") and other countries are ravaged by alien attacks, Britain becomes one of these. The most striking moment occurs when Donna's Italian housemate is taken to a "work camp", as Britain has become heavily anti-immigrant, yet can't kick them out since the oceans closed. As they climb into the army truck, Donna's grandfather Wilf starts to cry.
---->'''Wilf:''' "Work camps". That's what they called them [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust last time]]!
** Played straight in in "The Beast Below", where England is turned into one of these. The government is keeping a secret and any dissidents who try to find out what happened are fed to the eponymous Beast Below. The Doctor figures this out pretty quickly since nobody is visibly reacting to his usual weirdness and nobody stops to inquire why a child is crying. They are too afraid.
* ''Series/{{Colony}}'': RH forces conduct random (and sometimes physical) inspections, and curfews are always enforced from 12 to 6 AM with orders to shoot anyone who is caught violating rules. Massive surveillance operations are done to control the populace and slave labor policies are used for anyone caught committing crimes against the CTA.

* ''Series/ThePurge'': We usually see the universe of the Purge through the lens of its brutal, lawless titular annual event. Season 2 shows that everyone is [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou constantly monitored]] and committing crime of any kind will have the police sent after you in minutes the other 364 days of the year (or for violating the rules of the Purge -- this also explains how they enforce those, as otherwise it would be logistically impossible). Depending on the violation, suspects can potentially be stripped of their rights as citizens, showing that the government now prevents crime on off-Purge days through draconian punishments (it's later revealed capital punishment is used liberally for all major felonies).

* Music/{{Disturbed}}'s music video for "Another Way To Die" has a military-like group controlling all the earth's remaining water supplies and suppressing any form of agriculture not within their control.

%%-->They can fake everything
%%-->To prove that you are guilty
%%-->They can erase your life
%%-->Steal your whole identity
%%-->There's not much you can do
%%-->Resistance is impossible
%%-->In the end they take your life
%%-->[[UnPerson And no one knows you have been there]]

%%-->I wear my sunglasses at night
%%-->So I can, so I can
%%-->Watch you weave
%%-->Then breathe your story lines
%%-->And I wear my sunglasses at night
%%-->So I can, so I can
%%-->Keep track of the visions in my eyes

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': The Capellan Confederation is outright described as a police state in the game's lore, being highly centralised and with a powerful government that controls practically everything about its citizenry, including whether or not they are 'citizens' at all or simply 'servitors': All children are officially 'wards of the state' until they can be assigned to either category. The Draconis Combine is slightly less centralised and has less direct power over its citizenry, but is even more authoritarian as a highly stratified feudal society where the Coordinator has almost unlimited power. The Lyran Commonwealth was briefly this under Alessandro Steiner, predecessor to Katrina Steiner (the actual Katrina Steiner, not her granddaughter Katherine). His idea of loyalty to the realm involved judicious use of LOKI operatives to suppress dissent. Unfortunately, the Lyran Commonwealth is notoriously full of {{General Failure}}s, so this doesn't work nearly as well or as effectively as he'd have liked, and eventually led to Alessandro getting deposed by the infinitely more reasonable Katrina.
%%* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Most settings have a place like this, often overlapping with TheEmpire. ''Forgotten Realms'' has Thay, ''Greyhawk'' has the Empire of Iuz, ''Eberron'' has Riedra etc. ''Dark Sun'' is the only setting where ''all'' the main civilizations are police states ruled by the [[EvilSorcerer Sorcerer Kings]].%%ZCE. Describe why these are examples.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': The setting's sole surviving human settlement is run by a powerful self-aware computer who is also, unfortunately, quite insane, and is absolutely convinced that every misfortune real or imagined is caused by communist or mutant saboteurs, despite most forms of communist theory or texts having been lost for centuries (the mutants are quite real, however). The Computer is ''always'' watching, and anybody who engages in communist activity or who is a mutant... or who can in any way be misidentified as part of those two groups... or who runs afoul of the Computer's many, many badly-worded and contradictory laws... is in for an unpleasant time.

* ''ComicBook/BeastWarsUprising'': Cybertron in the 24th century, where the Maximal Command Security Forces are the main arm of the [[AbusivePrecursors Builders]], and it's possible get into trouble for looking in a reflective surface too long. Most of the MCSF only sign up for the job because it means exemption from [[BreadAndCircuses The Games]], and so are usually apathetic and corrupt at best.
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' Metru Nui is run as this, as it is patrolled by armies of Vahki who are ruthless in hunting down law breaking Matoran.

* Sid Meier's ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' series:
** ''Civilization III'' gives us the Fascist form of government, which offers benefits to military support but also [[InferredHolocaust for reasons not completely explained]] causes [[ThePurge many settlements to lose a few units of population when you switch to it]].

** ''[[VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri Alpha Centauri]]'' has police state as a social engineering option and practically downright states that a few factions use them (The Hive is more or less forbidden from using anything else). You can even go for complete Thought Control once you research the technology "The Will to Power" (the [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche]] reference is intentional, and also intentionally [[TheThemeParkVersion twisted]]--Chairman Yang ''understands'' what Nietzsche was saying, he just wants to take it in a wholly different direction).
* ''VideoGame/XCOM2'''s ADVENT Administration is a [[VichyEarth global puppet government established after aliens invade and world governments surrender]] after the titular XCOM Project from ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' fails to combat the aliens. Ostensibly, it is run by human officials in cooperation with benevolent aliens, and is protected by an army of [[HalfHumanHybrid apparently human]] [[LesCollaborateurs ADVENT Peacekeepers]]. In reality, ADVENT Troopers enforce a global police state that monitors all communication and public activity in city centers. They favor ID scanners in the streets, military checkpoints on seemingly every other block, patrols kitted out with assault weapons, automated turrets in public places, and a massive electronic/psionic surveillance system that links everything together. It doesn't help that all ADVENT forces wear [[FacelessMooks heavy eye-concealing helmets]].
%%* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'''s Combine fits the bill, the Civil Protection do the most of the brutality though.
* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge''. Mostly played straight. The government is a totalitarian police state that monitors all communication and public activity; however, the city cops dress rather casually (blue T-shirt and pants).
* This is what Silvermoon, the Blood Elf capital in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' is, or at least was before Kael'Thas was exposed as a madman. It had automated arcane sentries on every street corner, occasionally spouting propaganda, and anyone critical of the regime was quickly apprehended by the city guard and brainwashed via magic.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', BarbarianHero Karlach's ArchEnemy Lord Enver Gortash pulls a TyrantTakesTheHelm on the titular city, brainwashing the duke (Wyll's father) into naming him Archduke. Upon which he turns the city guards known as the Flaming Fist into his personal footsoldiers, arrests all the ReasonableAuthorityFigures opposing him, turns the city's most popular newspaper into a PropagandaMachine, and has towering {{magitek}} MechaMooks kill people for petty crimes. Meanwhile, the [[GullibleLemmings citizenry]] regard all of this as RepressiveButEfficient due to the climate of fear maintained by the BigBad [[spoiler:which he helped create, as he was RunningBothSides as [[TheAntichrist the Chosen one of the god of tyranny, Bane]]]].
* In Season 1 of ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'', Harvey Dent gets elected mayor of Gotham City and after he's wounded and potentially disfigured by ComicBook/ThePenguin and a terrorist group known as the Children of Arkham, he [[ComicBook/TwoFace snaps]] and slowly turns Gotham into a police state with armed guards on every street corner. He [[DisproportionateRetribution blows up an entire city block to destroy the Children of Arkham's drug supply]], throws Bruce Wayne into Arkham without a trial and sets fire to his house, and tries to have his enforcers kill either Bruce or Gordon in Crime Alley. If Batman decides to focus on stopping The Penguin instead of Two-Face, he starts silencing his opposition and even goes so far as to try to have his enforcers kill off the entire GCPD before holding public executions in what's left of Wayne Manor, with his hostages including a police officer and a newscaster who spoke out against him.
* ''VideoGame/FreedomWars'' has warring police states as one of the only forms of civilization left in the future. People living in panopticons are under constant surveillance, and any infraction, no matter how slight (including the crime of ''being born'' and representing a new drain on limited resources) is punishable by prison sentences that can easily [[LongerThanLifeSentence exceed a million years]].
* The Federation in ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Nova'' is, by the time the game starts, something like this. It is relatively light on the oppression for something on this page (it does still maintain the formal structure of the democratic [[TheFederation federation]] it was founded as, and the rulers has to pretend to the public it still is a working democracy), but it is effectively ''ruled'' (in secret, obviously, though there is a Rebellion out to oust them) by its FBI-counterpart, the Bureau of Internal Investigation. Once you start working for the Bureau in the Federation storyline (which is fairly quickly), the missions you are allocated end up being to go to a planet, pick up a captured 'spy' or 'terrorist', and bring them in for interrogation. With each mission, it is increasingly obvious that the crimes in question was being a political dissident, culminating in you being ordered to bring in what turns out to be [[spoiler: the Councillor -- Senator, more or less -- for Port Kane]].
* In the original ''Videogame/PlanetSide'', the Terran Republic is a military oligarchy that mercilessly crushes any form of dissent with riot police or tanks. In the sequel, the Republic is an actual republic, but TheRemnant on Auraxis has taken on a much more authoritarian bent due resource shortages.
%%* In ''Videogame/EYEDivineCybermancy'', the Federation is a totalitarian police state rife with corruption and ineptitude; every Federal area is infested with looters and pirates, and it's rare to find a Federal officer you ''can't'' bribe. E.Y.E seeks to overthrow it, albeit more for the power than the desire to actually help people.
* In the Flash game ''[[https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/650994 Deep State]]'', creating a police state in Eastern Europe is the end goal, and is accomplished by running protection rackets, selling drugs, smuggling weapons, manipulating the press and other FalseFlagOperation including terrorist attacks against yourself and other countries. The main mechanic is balancing the population's fear (so that you can keep passsing ever-more intrusive surveillance laws, militarizing police, curtailing civil rights, what have you), the population (the more people die, the more scared they are, but the less money they make) and your income (as you can't make as much money when the population doesn't feel safe, which is needed to fund your money-making operations).

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' has a Civic (principles behind a government) actually called Police State. In practice, it can fall anywhere between "highly repressive police force" and "a ridiculously high proportion of the population, up to and including one half of it are police officers".

* Mayor David Hull in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' declares martial law in Gotham City, turning both the Gotham City Police Department and Harvey Dent's Special Crimes Unit into a death squad targeting Batman. However, Hull is forced to do this by a disfigured and increasingly insane Dent. Commissioner Gordon quits in disgust.

* The United Kingdom becomes this in the ending of ''Recap/BlackMirrorTheWaldoMoment'', as the Waldo movement has replaced the British parliament in a wave of cynical populism. The protagonist, Jamie, is shown to have become a homeless alcoholic who is [[PoliceBrutality tased and beaten by police]] [[DisproportionateRetribution after throwing a beer bottle at a Waldo sign]]. What's worse, the Waldo movement is spreading globally across the world.

* In ''Literature/TheVazulaChronicles'', the [[UnderwaterCity triple kingdoms]] are run this way by the Record Master, who spreads misinformation among the merpeople to keep them in the city and under his control and secretly orders the execution of anyone who defies him, [[spoiler:including Merletta's parents]].

* Creator/TomSharpe's ''Piemberg'' farces, set in UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra, center on the South African Police Force in the sleepy city of Piemberg, a place stuck in a late-Victorian time warp where colonial mentalities prevail (on the part of British South Africans) and a desire to replay the Boer War exists (on the part of Afrikaners). Both ethnicities unite in despising and distrusting blacks, however, and this is where the racist and incompetent SAPD excels. And beyond the regular uniformed police is BOSS, the Bureau of State Security. Headed locally by a psychotic and hysterical paranoic called Verkramp, who sees conspiracies against a White South Africa - ''everywhere''. HilarityEnsues.

* The lunar colony in ''Cylinder van Troffa'', supposed to be the means for humanity's "best" to survive while Earth is uninhabitable. Because of this, Luna runs on "lifeboat rules", with tight PopulationControl and fervent suppression of rumours that the next generation of lunarians might be unable to survive in Earth gravity.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Amestris is a military-police state. On the other hand, it's more or less justified, as [[spoiler: the entire country was created for the sole purpose of housing Father's giant transmutation circle for godhood, so he's the {{Chessmaster}} behind the government as well.]]
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': The '''whole world''' practically functions as [[KnightTemplar Light]] [[AGodAmI Yagami]]'s own personal Police State for 6 years after [[spoiler: L's death.]]; With Kira's law being the only law and people worshipping and obeying him as a god.
[[/folder]]

* ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'': The parts of the planet Mongo controlled by the Emperor Ming.

* The Planet Georwell in ''Comicbook/JusticeMachine''.
* Latveria was like this before Doctor Doom came to power; he just does it ''better'', partly by using an army of killer robots instead of a human SecretPolice. How pleasant or otherwise a place to live the country is for the ordinary Latverian [[DependingOnTheWriter varies by continuity and writer]], but knowing Doom it's a safe bet that the trains really ''do'' run on time.

* In ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'', Gotham has become this when Simon Saint and his Magistrate ends up being becoming the new police following the mysterious "A-Day". In the mainstream continuity, in ''ComicBook/BatmanJamesTynionIV'', it seems to be heading in that direction [[spoiler:until the Scarecrow, realizing just how terrified Gotham is, decides to hijack the plan]].

* ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic'': [[InformedAttribute The narration states that it's benevolent]]; the readers (and at least one character) would beg to differ.
* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' ExpandedUniverse of Creator/AAPessimal has lots of police states. Ankh-Morpork has Lord Vetinari in charge and who arguably doesn't ''need'' a secret police: it has Sam Vimes, the (reformed) Cable Street Particulars, Dark Clerks and the Guild of Assassins, who along with the other Guilds tend to each have part of the picture as to what's going on at any given moment. But Vetinari is the man assembling the jigsaw puzzle. However, Quirm has the ''Deuxieme Bureau''; Rimwards Howondaland has its own Bureau of State Security[[note]]Based on the real-life South African BOSS, seen through the lens of Creator/TomSharpe's interpretation and a Pratchett-styled approach[[/note]]. Far Überwald may turn out to have a Kommittee of General Benevolence overseeing its citizens and Cenotia is rumoured to have a shadowy organisation called ''Shin Pa'd'', or perhaps ''[[UsefulNotes/{{Mossad}} The Institute]]'', with an interest in defending its own quiet backwater of the Circle Sea.

* ''Film/BattleRoyale'' is set in an alternate, fascistic version of Japan that, after winning World War II, began doing things like forcing 50 random teenagers to fight to the death annually in a deranged attempt to combat delinquency.

* In ''Film/AClockworkOrange'' it's strongly implied that the government is devolving into one of these. The "cure" itself even comes about because they need to free up space for future political prisoners, and the government starts recruiting street thugs as police (including Alex's former "droogs").
* America becomes this after the Big One in ''Film/EscapeFromLA''. It's implied to have been heading this way in ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''.

* Efrafa is the dictatorship-warren established by General Woundwort in ''Literature/WatershipDown'', with a rigidly-enforced system of concealment to prevent its discovery by Men.
* Creator/CSLewis has something of a pattern here:
** ''Literature/ThatHideousStrength'': The National Institute for the Coordination of Science (N.I.C.E). Despite its innocent name, the Institute manages to gain enough power to create this.
** ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters'': Hell is one of these, perhaps unsurprisingly.
** In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', everything ruled by Jadis/the White Witch.
* Oceania in the George Orwell novel ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', with probably the biggest example being the Thought Police.
* ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}''
* Randall Flagg's Las Vegas colony in ''Literature/TheStand'' probably applies here, considering people are frequently crucified for crimes.
* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' has Giedi Prime under the Harkonnens.
** The Harkonnens attempt to do this with Arrakis, but it doesn't work out.
** The entire universe under the [[Literature/GodEmperorOfDune rule of Leto II]]. It's all to save humanity, though, so it's a bit more complex than all that,[[note]]Viz., Leto can see the future, and realizes that if he doesn't run a horribly oppressive and stifling regime, humanity will get complacent and won't expand and change enough to be ready for a massive, horrible ''something'' far outside even his knowledge. Keeping humanity bottled up for three thousand years would encourage people to go across the universe and thus get ready.[[/note]] but it doesn't make anyone at the time any happier.
* The post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in ''Literature/TheHungerGames''.
* Inquisitor Umbridge tries her best to turn Hogwarts into one in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''. Voldemort turns the Wizarding world of England into one in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''.
* Ansul under Ald occupation is this in ''Voices'', the second Literature/AnnalsOfTheWesternShore book. The Alds conquered it and oppress the population, but not for colonization--they only send soldiers there because they only came to smash the heretics.

* Creator/JanuszZajdel gives us the following examples:
** ''Paradyzja'', whose government spreads paranoia about Earth wanting to attack them, but actually fears its own citizens.
** The lunar colony in ''Cylinder van Troffa'', supposed to be the means for humanity's "best" to survive while Earth is uninhabitable. Because of this, Luna runs on "lifeboat rules", with tight PopulationControl and fervent suppression of rumours that the next generation of lunarians might be unable to survive in Earth gravity.
%% I'll add this later, after checking ** Several in the short stories.

** Played straight in "Turn Left", which shows how a universe without the Doctor would play out. As London and most of its surrounding area is wiped out by the crash of the ''Titanic'' (which the Doctor prevented in "Voyage of the Damned") and other countries are ravaged by alien attacks, Britain becomes one of these.
*** The most striking moment occurs when Donna's Italian housemate is taken to a "work camp", as Britain has become heavily anti-immigrant, yet can't kick them out since the oceans closed. As they climb into the army truck, Donna's grandfather Wilf starts to cry.

* Music/ThreeDaysGrace's music video for "Just Like You" features the SWAT officer stereotype.

* "The State Within" by Funker Vogt:
-->They can fake everything
-->To prove that you are guilty
-->They can erase your life
-->Steal your whole identity
-->There's not much you can do
-->Resistance is impossible
-->In the end they take your life
-->[[UnPerson And no one knows you have been there]]
* Corey Hart's ''SunglassesAtNight'' is about life in one of these, mixed with StalkerWithACrush.
-->I wear my sunglasses at night
-->So I can, so I can
-->Watch you weave
-->Then breathe your story lines
-->And I wear my sunglasses at night
-->So I can, so I can
-->Keep track of the visions in my eyes

[[folder:Opera]]
* ''Theatre/TheConsul''
[[/folder]]

* ''TabeltopGame/MisspentYouth'' by Robert Bohl, ahas you play a group of teenage anarchists out to change the world. The group creates Systems of Control that are sci-fi-ish details about the world that the Authority uses to mess with your lives. These frequently include a police state, especially if the Authority's Visage is State.

* ''TabletopGame/TheSplinter'': Earth is a police state controlled by a single corporation. Make sure to watch tv every night and report suspicious activities to the police robot that's most assuredly watching you right now. It's for your own safety.

* ''ComicBook/BeastWarsUprising'': Cybertron in the 24th century, where the Maximal Command Security Forces are the main arm of the [[AbusivePrecusors Builders]], and it's possible get into trouble for looking in a reflective surface too long. Most of the MCSF only sign up for the job because it means exemption from [[BreadAndCircuses The Games]], and so are usually apathetic and corrupt at best.

** ''Civilization IV'' has "Police State" as a civic option, with a swat officer in its portrait. Using the police state [[MoreDakka speeds up weapon production]] and halves the effects of wartime anger, presumably because people are too afraid to speak out or protest.
** ''Civilization V'' features this under the Autocracy tree, which gives +3 Happiness from every Courthouse built, and also halves the time it takes to build them. In the Gods and Kings expansion, it reduces the efficiency of enemy spies by 25%, and gives YOUR spies a +25% bonus to catch the enemy spies.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'''s Combine fits the bill, the Civil Protection do the most of the brutality though.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'''s Vault 101 security officers are to stop anyone from leaving the Vault, even if it means using deadly force.
* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge''. Mostly played straight. The government is a totalitarian police state that monitors all communication and public activity; however, the city cops dress rather casually (blue t-shirt and pants).

* In ''Videogame/EYEDivineCybermancy'', the Federation is a totalitarian police state rife with corruption and ineptitude; every Federal area is infested with looters and pirates, and it's rare to find a Federal officer you ''can't'' bribe. E.Y.E seeks to overthrow it, albeit more for the power than the desire to actually help people.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' has a Civics (principles behind a government) actually called Police State. In practice, it can fall anywhere between "highly repressive police force" and "a ridiculously high proportion of the population, up to and including one half of it are police officers".

[[folder:Web Original]]
* After the German democracy falls in the ''Literature/ChaosTimeline'', pretty much every major power on Earth is this.
[[/folder]]

* The Justice Lords from the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' did this to most of the world in their alternate universe.

* In ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'', after a terrorist attack instigated by the Demons, Mayor Norman Osborn hires Silver Sable and her mercenary company Sable International to end their threat. He gives them full authority, which allows them to establish restrictive curfews, checkpoint areas, and invasive surveillance throughout the city. They also arrest civilians at any sight of dissent and constantly oppose Spider-Man and the police. Unfortunately for Osborn, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome reality bites hard]]; the American public and federal government do not exactly respond well to a municipal government official acting like a tinpot dictator, and he winds up [[ResignedInDisgrace resigning in disgrace]] once everything is resolved at the end of the game, with a strong implication that he just ''barely'' avoided serious legal prosecution.

* In the ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' universe, all of the major governments are Police States of varying flavours and levels of corruption, [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner in a more literal manner than the norm]]. At least in the US, it is the long-term result of the growing power of the Justice Department initially to combat out-of-control urban crime in the new Mega-Cities. First the constitution was repealed and the entire judiciary (which was hopelessly corrupt) abolished, with Fargo merging the responsibilities of the Attorney General and Chief Justice into one office. His successors militarized it further, to the point where the JD became a wholly independent StateSec. Then the [[PresidentEvil President]] derelicted his duties by plunging the world into nuclear war, forcing the Judges to depose him and basically became the entire government.

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[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[[folder:Film]]

-->--'''ComicBook/JudgeDredd''', "''America''"