Gestapo

[guh-stah-poh; German guh-shtah-poh] /gəˈstɑ poʊ; German gəˈʃtɑ poʊ/

noun
1.
the German state secret police during the Nazi regime, organized in 1933 and notorious for its brutal methods and operations.
adjective
2.
(sometimes lowercase) of or resembling the Nazi Gestapo, especially in the brutal suppression of opposition:
The new regime is using gestapo tactics.
/ɡɛˈstɑːpəʊ; German ɡeˈʃtaːpo/
noun
1.
the secret state police in Nazi Germany, noted for its brutal methods of interrogation

Nazi secret state police, 1934, from German Gestapo, contracted from “Geheime Staats-polizei,” literally “secret state police,” set up by Hermann Göring in Prussia in 1933, extended to all Germany in January 1934.
Gestapo [(guh-stah-poh, guh-shtah-poh)]

The secret police of the Third Reich in Germany. The Gestapo operated against Germans suspected of treason by using brutal interrogation and torture; they instilled widespread fear by their terrorist methods.

Note: “Gestapo tactics” in general are intimidating official procedures.

Note: Figuratively, any brutal secret police organization may be called a “gestapo.”