Exercising Discretion in Border Areas: On the changing social surround and decision field of internal border control in the Netherlands

Abstract

Most of the research on discretion focuses on the street-leveldecisions of law enforcement officials. By focusing on the micro level, thesestudies neglect the fact that decisions are not made within a vacuum but ratherwithin a broader political, legal and societal context. This article not only shedslight on the understudied area of border policing, it also aims to give insightinto the broader context that might influence the street-level decision-making ofDutch Border police officers. By means of a discourse analysis of over 250documents, the research shows how the social surround and the decision fieldof border security in the Netherlands develops over a period of 20 years. Theresults of the study not only show how Dutch border security is increasinglydirected at the criminal immigrant, but also the increased use of and belief inintelligence-based and technology-driven decision-making.