I had to think about this one a while as my initial reaction morphed a bit with of reflection. While there are no “thought police” that work in any kind of predictable ways, I would challenge that they really do exist.
They are the parents who allow children limited access to the world to impact what that child is permitted to know or only hear about after processed through the parents’ filters (this works for good and bad).
They are the TV newscasters who characterize stories in particular ways (e.g., only show outlandish bad behavior at gay pride parades while failing to show the admittedly boring doctors and lawyers, etc at the event). For example, we don’t show pictures of Mardi Gras to demonstrate how straight people “really are.”
They are the newspapers who print murders of white teens but move the death of the black teen further back in the paper (if mentioned at all). The same newspapers that somehow need to show the photograph of the black perpetrator or mention that the criminal was black. If race is not given, the person is presumed white . . .
They are the religious leaders who try to confuse their flocks by likening gays and lesbians to pedophiles.
The thought police certainly attempt to direct our thinking on a wide variety of topics. Gratefully, they are not always successful. It seems that there is a point, up to which, the masses can be pushed. After that point, it is the fringe element that still hangs on (e.g., the preacher who attends funerals of gay people with children carrying large signs indicating the deceased is going to Hell).
The “thought police” only seem to be effective on those who are unable or unwilling to think for themselves. Perhaps they should be called the “ignorance police” as that seems to be what is being enforced; their goals certainly don’t include rational thinking . . .