Author(s):
Marilena Geugjes, Leonie Jantzer & Svenja Keitzel

Institution:
Hessische Hochschule für öffentliches Management und Sicherheit; Leuphana Universität Lüneburg; Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

Title:
Flight and migration in the city: city-specific perception, representation and processing by the police

Abstract:
The refugee migration in 2015 and the following years was characterized by both a welcome and a security discourse. The article focuses on the state police perceptions and representations of refugee migration in six German cities. Based on an interpretative-qualitative approach, the article asks whether and how the police construct flight and migration as a „problem“ in their city. It is argued that police practice has discretionary powers which can be seen in dealing with refugees. Initial observations point to a categorization as well as problematization of certain groups of people and spaces in police work. Although the orientation framework for police action is interwoven with complex discourses, there is hardly any self-reflection on the sometimes stigmatising acting of the police.

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