Law enforcement in communist states

State Security (Czech: Státní bezpečnost, Slovak: Štátna bezpečnosť) or StB / ŠtB, was a plainclothes secret (political) police force in former Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990.

The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Народный комиссариат внутренних дел, Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del), abbreviated NKVD (НКВД ), was a law enforcement agency of the Soviet Union that directly executed the will of the All Union Communist Party.

The Combat Groups of the Working Class (German: Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse, KdA) was a paramilitary organization in East Germany, founded in 1953 and abolished in 1990.

The Worker-Peasant Red Guards (로농적위군) is a paramilitary force in North Korea.

The Służba Bezpieczeństwa Ministerstwa Spraw Wewnętrznych (Polish pronunciation: [ˈswuʐba bɛspʲeˈt͡ʂɛɲstfa miɲiˈstɛrstfa ˈsprav veˈvnɛntʂnɨx]; Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; Polish abbreviations: SB and MSW, respectively), commonly known as Esbecja, was established in the People's Republic of Poland in 1956.

Milicja Obywatelska (Polish pronunciation: [miˈlit͡sja ɔbɨvaˈtɛlska]; Citizens' Militia or Civic Militia) was a state police institution in the People's Republic of Poland.

People's Militias (in Slovak Ľudové milície, in Czech Lidové milice), also called The armed fist of the working class (in Slovak ozbrojená päsť robotníckej triedy, in Czech ozbrojená pěst dělnické třídy) was a militia organisation of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989.

Militsiya (Russian: мили́ция; IPA: [mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə], Belarusian: міліцыя, Estonian: miilits, Armenian: միլիցիա [militsʰja], Kyrgyz: милиция, Lithuanian: milicija, Polish: milicja, Romanian: miliția, Serbian: милиција, Croatian: milicija, Slovene: milica , Tajik: милитсия, Ukrainian: міліція, Uzbek: militsiya or милиция), often confused with militia, is used as an official name of the civilian police in several former communist states.

The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit, MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (IPA: [ˈʃtaːziː]) (abbreviation German: Staatssicherheit, literally State Security), also State Security Service (German Staatssicherheitsdienst, SSD), was the official state security service of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR), colloquially known as East Germany.

Cheka (ЧК – чрезвыча́йная коми́ссия chrezvychaynaya komissiya, Emergency Committee, Russian pronunciation: [tɕɪˈka]) was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations.

The State Protection Authority (Hungarian: Államvédelmi Hatóság or ÁVH) was the secret police of Hungary from 1945 until 1956.

The Drejtoria e Sigurimit të Shtetit (Directorate of State Security), commonly called the Sigurimi, was the state security, intelligence and secret police service of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania.

The State Security Service (SDB or SDS), more commonly known by its original name as the State Security Administration (UDBA or UDSA), was the secret police of Yugoslavia.

The Katpol, an abbreviation for Katonapolitikai Osztály (Military Political Department in Hungarian), and it was the main security agency of the Ministry of Defence in Hungary from January 1945 until its break-up in 1950.