Resolving suspicion moment-by-moment. The overall structural organization of police encounters in the Spain-France border area

Highlights

• Parties deal with the resolution of police suspicion.

• Police officers exercise choice of suspicion moment-by-moment.

• Suspicion is the resource that makes the actions of officers and civilians coherent.

• The police pressure to resolve suspicion shapes the progressivity of the encounter.

• Parties co-construct the overall structural organization of police border checks.

Abstract

Drawing on video recordings of police checks in the Spain-France border area, conversation analysis is applied to circumstances in which police officers decide to expand the encounter in search of grounds for suspicion. Police construct a “funnel of suspicion” that gradually intrudes further into the civilians’ personal spheres. This is used to gather information on which to base choices regarding subsequent actions, such as seeking further details or ending the encounter. The results show that police pressure when assessing what constitutes suspicion and attempts by civilians to be released from the encounter shape the interaction of these police border checks.