Peacekeepers

The Peacekeepers are the secondary antagonists from The Hunger Games trilogy. They are a group of soldiers that serve as the Capitol's private security force. Though they are tasked with maintaining "order" and ensuring that everyone obeys the rules, they are also tasked with brutally silencing anyone who tries to speak out against the regime. Furthermore, the Capitol also regularly employs them as their own private army, using them to crush out any kind of resistance to the Capitol's rule.

Functions of the Peacekeepers
Peacekeepers are assigned the task of maintaining order and thus go to extreme lengths to punish those who would disobey, with said punishments typically involve whipping the offender in public. In the larger districts the Peacekeepers are particularly strict due to needing to manage the larger sized population, but in other more poor districts like District 12, they show more leniency due to the fact that illegal hunting gets them food as well as food for the district as a whole. This policy however, changes when their leader becomes Romulus Thread after the 74th Hunger Games who starts torturing and abusing people in order to keep them under control.

District 11 Peacekeepers are particularly ruthless and unstable, having been known to execute citizens for minor offenses (such as when an elderly man saluted Katniss Everdeen, which they saw as a symbol of defiance) and also believing that forty lashes for illegal hunting is not a sufficient punishment.

Weapons
First shown Peacekeepers usually only carries batons, but in the District 11 revolt, the Peacekeepers attack them also with water cannons and carries riot shields in order to protect themselves. Once Romulus Thread arrives to District 12, he armies his soldiers with FNP 90 Submachine guns and flamethrowers which are used to burn the Hob. Thread himself is armed with a Vector CP1 pistol and a whip, which he uses to punish people. In the Capitol, several Peacekeepers attack Cinna with studded gloves.

Trivia

 * Peacekeepers are inspired by the Roman military (likely also having to do with the Hunger Games similarity to Gladiator games). They are mostly from the Districts and the Capitol itself (like German "barbarian" soldiers in Roman army) and must serve for 20 years without marriage or children.
 * They also bear a strong resemblance to the Stormtroopers from Star Wars, as both are fascist soldiers dressed exclusively in white with full-face covering helmets who are used by the regime they serve to silence any and all opposition.