History Main / StateSec

This is an extremely common RealLife trope, and is OlderThanTheyThink. Political intrigues and favoritism can lead to InterserviceRivalry with the Regular Army. Contrast with the SecretPolice, who are similar to State Sec, but lack the overt paramilitaries and suppress dissent more quietly. MegaCorp and NGOSuperpower are when corporate or other non-governmental entities wield similar levels of influence, infrastructure and paramilitary power.

** The Ferengi's IntimidatingRevenueService has characteristics of State Sec as well, as it is powerful enough to depose the Grand Nagus and its Liquidators often hound individuals for years.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven'' had the black-clad GasMaskMooks of the Terran Federation, though the exact relationship between the Federation military and its SecretPolice was ill-defined. Some soldiers are stated as being Security, others are [[PraetorianGuard elite guard units working for high-ranking figures]], others are implied to be [[PunchClockVillain ordinary military units]] carrying out the [[JustFollowingOrders dirty work of oppression]].

* The Rehabs of ''Film/RoboCop3''. These "Urban Rehabilitators" are supposed to help augment the Detroit Police in fighting crime. In reality, they're cold blooded mercenaries that force people out of their homes and wipe out any resistance.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' examples.
** In a somewhat heroic example, Jedi largely fit the concept in their role in the Republic government.
** Several members of the Separatist movement, including the Trade Federation and the Intergalactic Banking Clan, are {{Mega Corp}}s rather than nations yet have their own droid armies and even seats in the Senate.
** Imperial stormtroopers seem to serve as this in the films, as they're not just elite troops but are also an ubiquitous sight within the Empire's cities and space stations, keeping their "order" (the name comes from the Nazis, with the SS having the same dual roles, albeit in separate branches).
** For more, see the larger entries in Literature.

** The Space Security Service in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan "The Daleks' Master Plan"]]; although opposing the Daleks, these black-clad paramilitary agents of the year 4000 execute people at the drop of a hat (one even kills her own brother simply because she's been ordered to). Notable for the presence of Nicholas Courtney (who went on to play TheBrigadier, as well as the fascist "Brigade Leader" in an alternative universe in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno "Inferno"]]). Ironically, Space Security were to be the heroes of the never-made spin-off series ''Daleks''.
** Another SS-like force is the Kaled's Military Elite led by the bespectacled Himmler-like Security Commander Nyder in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks "Genesis of the Daleks"]].

** The Space Security Service in [Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan "The Daleks' Master Plan"]]; although they oppose the Daleks, these black-clad paramilitary agents of the year 4000 execute people at the drop of a hat (one even kills her own brother simply because she's been ordered to). Notable for the presence of Nicholas Courtney (who went on to play TheBrigadier, as well as the fascist "Brigade Leader" in an alternative universe in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno "Inferno"]]). Ironically, Space Security were to be the heroes of the never-made spin-off series ''Daleks''.

** Lengthy serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan "The Daleks' Master Plan"]] has the Space Security Service. Although human, and opposing the Daleks and their evil plan, these black-clad paramilitary agents of the year 4000 execute people at the drop of a hat (one even kills her own brother simply because she's been ordered to). Notable for the presence of Nicholas Courtney (who went on to play TheBrigadier, as well as the fascist "Brigade Leader" in an alternative universe in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno "Inferno"]]). Ironically, Space Security were to be the heroes of the never-made spin-off series ''Daleks''.

** Lengthy serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan "The Daleks' Master Plan"]] has Space Security. Although human, and opposing the Daleks and their evil plan, these black-clad paramilitary agents of the year 4000 execute people at the drop of a hat (one even kills her own brother simply because she's been ordered to). Notable for the presence of Nicholas Courtney (who went on to play TheBrigadier, as well as the fascist "Brigade Leader" in an alternative universe in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno "Inferno"]]). Ironically, Space Security were to be the heroes of the never-made spin-off series ''Daleks''.
** Another SS-like force are the Kaled guards led by Security Commander Nyder in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks "Genesis of the Daleks"]].

* UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} had the ÁVH (short for "Államvédelmi Hatóság", literally "State Protection Authority"). Forged from elements of the state police force and originally a mere organ of the post-WWII Ministry of Interior (its full name at the time being the "Budapest Headquarters' Department of State Political Police" ("Budapesti Főkapitányság Politikai Rendészeti Osztálya", or '''PRO''') in 1945, before gaining its more infamous name as the Hungarian State Police's State Defense Department ("Magyar Államrendőrség Államvédelmi Osztálya", or '''''ÁVO''''', where the denonym "ávós" comes from - usually uttered with no small amount of contempt) in 1946, before finally becoming a fully independent state security organization (as the '''ÁVH''') in 1950. Noted for originally being composed of a "colorful cast of characters" (including former Arrow Cross Party members, whose crimes were quickly forgotten in exchange for their services as boot boys and ''torture technicians'', and vengeful survivors of the "labour service" [[spoiler:(read: ''slave labor'')]] that enlistment-age Jewish men had perform during the war - this latter group being a majority in the early days of the PRO, so that previous regime personell, whom they would've come in contact with, would be more easily filtered out from society), it would eventually be forged into a well-organized security service by László Rajk (who would end up being a victim of the organization he helped to shape, as he was considered a threat to the position and authority of general secretary Mátyás Rákosi). Much like the Securitate or the Stasi, it was an utterly brutal organization, renowned for unusually cruel and creative methods of torture [[spoiler:(such as forcing arrested priests to kiss an ''electrified'' crucifix, forcing prisoners to drink from toilet bowls, and threatening to torture and kill their family members)]], with the guards' motto being "Don't just guard them, ''hate'' them!" [[spoiler:which they attributed to Minister of National Defence Mihály Farkas, another member of Rákosi's inner circle.]] Like the Stasi, they operated a vast network of (mostly intimidated-into-compliance) informants - many of whom would snitch on their own loved ones just to get away from the torture), and would come to make arrests in the dead of the night, between midnight and 2 a.m., giving rise to the term "''Csengőfrász''" (meaning "Bell-fright", as people would come to dread the sound of the doorbell in the middle of the night). With the death of Stalin in 1953, and the ensuing internal restructuring of the USSR's leadership (and, by extension, some of those of its satellite states), the Hungarian govenrment (then headed by the more popular [[spoiler:and pragmatic]] Imre Nagy, as Rákosi was forced to step down) began to take action against the leadership of the ÁVH, but its complete dissolution would only come in 1956, in the wake of the Hungarian Revolution. [[spoiler:The ÁVH was also (most likely) responsible for a particularly tragic episode of the revolution, where peaceful protestors fraternizing with the crews of Soviet tanks were fired upon from atop the Hungarian Radio building, leading to the protester attempting to flee from the scene, while the confused (and likely panicking) Soviet tank crews ended up firing upon the crowds, leading to countless casualties, and any semblance of peaceful protest going out the window from thereon. The ÁVH's headquarters at Andrássy út 66 (which also served as one of the headquarters (and interrogation and torture chambers) of the Arrow Cross Party during the final years of WWII), were raided, and members of the service were hung from lamp posts, their corpses left to rot on the street.]] After the revolution was crushed, the new Soviet-friendly government, headed by János Kádár, did not reinstate the organization, [[spoiler:mostly for pragmatic reasons, although he also had the personal motive of ''having been tortured by them himself'' in the past,]] with most of its functions taken over by the III/III department of the Minister of Interior.

* UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} had the ÁVH (short for "Államvédelmi Hatóság", literally "State Protection Authority"). Forged from elements of the state police force and originally a mere organ of the post-WWII Ministry of Interior (its full name at the time being the "Budapest Headquarters' Department of State Political Police" ("Budapesti Főkapitányság Politikai Rendészeti Osztálya", or '''PRO''') in 1945, before gaining its more infamous name as the Hungarian State Police's State Defense Department ("Magyar Államrendőrség Államvédelmi Osztálya", or '''''ÁVO''''', where the denonym "ávós" comes from - usually uttered with no small amount of contempt) in 1946, before finally becoming a fully independent state security organization (as the '''ÁVH''') in 1950. Noted for originally being composed of a "colorful cast of characters" (including former Arrow Cross Party members, whose crimes were quickly forgotten in exchange for their services as boot boys and ''torture technicians'', and vengeful survivors of the "labour service" [[spoiler:(read: ''slave labor'')]] that enlistment-age Jewish men had perform during the war - this latter group being a majority in the early days of the PRO, so that previous regime personell, whom they would've come in contact with, would be more easily filtered out from society), it would eventually be forged into a well-organized security service by László Rajk (who would end up being a victim of the organization he helped to shape, as he was considered a threat to the position and authority of general secretary Mátyás Rákosi). Much like the Securitate or the Stasi, it was an utterly brutal organization, renowned for unusually cruel and creative methods of torture [[spoiler:(such as forcing arrested priests to kiss an ''electrified'' crucifix, forcing prisoners to drink from toilet bowls, and threatening to torture and kill their family members)]], with the guards' motto being "Don't just guard them, ''hate'' them!" [[spoiler:which they attributed to Minister of National Defence Mihály Farkas, another member of Rákosi's inner circle.]] Like the Stasi, they operated a vast network of (mostly intimidated-into-compliance) informants - many of whom would snitch on their own loved ones just to get away from the torture), and would come to make arrests in the dead of the night, between midnight and 2 a.m., giving rise to the term "''Csengőfrász''" (meaning "Bell-fright", as people would come to dread the sound of the doorbell in the middle of the night). With the death of Stalin in 1953, and the ensuing internal restructuring of the USSR's leadership (and, by extension, some of those of its satellite states), the Hungarian govenrment (then headed by the more popular [[spoiler:and pragmatic]] Imre Nagy, as Rákosi was forced to step down) began to take action against the leadership of the ÁVH, but its complete dissolution would only come in 1956, in the wake of the Hungarian Revolution. [[spoiler:The ÁVH was also (most likely) responsible for a particularly tragic episode of the revolution, where peaceful protestors fraternizing with the crews of Soviet tanks were fired upon from atop the Hungarian Radio building, leading to the protester attempting to flee from the scene, while the confused (and likely panicking) Soviet tank crews ended up firing upon the crowds, leading to countless casualties, and any semblance of peaceful protest going out the window from thereon. The ÁVH's headquarters at Andrássy út 66 (which also served as one of the HQs of the Arrow Cross Party during the final years of WWII), were raided, and members of the service were hung from lamp posts, their corpses left to rot on the street.]] After the revolution was crushed, the new Soviet-friendly government, headed by János Kádár, did not reinstate the organization, [[spoiler:mostly for pragmatic reasons, although he also had the personal motive of ''having been tortured by them himself'' in the past,]] with most of its functions taken over by the III/III department of the Minister of Interior.