Police: in exploiter states, a system of special bodies of supervision and coercion, as well as domestic punitive troops that protect the existing soci

Police: in exploiter states, a system of special bodies of supervision and coercion, as well as domestic punitive troops that protect the existing social system by means of direct and overt suppression. [...] As one of the chief instruments of the state, the police in an exploiter society is always separated from and inimical to the people. [...] In modern capitalist states the police are used primarily in the struggle against the revolutionary and working-class movement — against democratic progressive forces. - The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979) Hmmm, I think I've read things about the US police — especially in the second part of 2020 — that were eerily close to this definition.