"Palpatine's Secret Police" was a phrase that became common during the Clone Wars amongst Republic and Separatist citizens alike. It referred negatively to the relationship between Chancellor Palpatine and the Jedi Order. Although the Senate nominally ruled the Republic, it was the Chancellor and the Jedi Council that held absolute power over the Grand Army of the Republic.

The phrase was a consequence of the Jedi's decision to serve as the commanders and generals of the Republic's secret army of clone troopers. When the Clone Wars broke out after the First Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY, the Senate, at Palpatine's behest, commissioned all members of the Jedi Order as military officers, and thus they entrusted the Order with ensuring the continuation of Republic unity and primacy in the galaxy through force of arms.

Throughout the war, the Jedi Order literally became the face of the Republic war effort against the Separatist armies. Despite the Jedi's willingness to fight alongside their clone soldiers on the frontlines, their participation in the war inevitably drew in criticism and escalated Anti-Jedi sentiment. The phrase then steadily grew in popularity and became even more widespread amongst the public when disillusioned members of the Order began referring to their comrades as "Palpatine's Secret Police."

It is unknown, but likely, that the phrase was promoted, if not introduced, secretly by Chancellor Palpatine, the public face of the enigmatic Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Anti-Jedi sentiment was one of the key components that enabled Sidious to initiate a systematic persecution of the Jedi Order with the acceptance of the galactic citizenry in 19 BBY.

SourcesEdit

• Yoda: Dark Rendezvous