From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpolice statepoˈlice state noun [countable] PGPGGOVERENMENTa country where the government strictly controls people’s freedom to meet, write, or speak about politics, travel etc
Examples from the Corpus
police state• But if police safety is what we want, it seems that is most easily achieved in a police state.• Public help for the police in a police state is a rare luxury.• The discipline of a police state was what he had grown up with, what suited his talents best.• The rule of the Shoguns was feasible, of course, only under strict discipline and what amounted to a police state.• Others warned against any attempt to set up a police state.• Here, in the regressive, infantile wish for the perfect parent of early childhood lies the germ of the police state. 