Blinded by the Light. An exploratory case study on airport policing of corruption by the Dutch Royal Marechaussee

Despite the Netherlands’ reputation for transparency, public sector corruption and integrity violations remain persistent issues, particularly in transport security environments. This article reports insights based on an exploratory qualitative case study of airport policing of corruption by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (KMar) at a regional Dutch airport. Grounded in a theoretical understanding of corruption as a socially constructed and discursively mediated phenomenon shaped by institutional logics, professional identities, and operational constraints, we draw on in-depth interviews with KMar officers (N=12) and participant observations (N=3) to deliver a “thick” description of how airport KMar officers perceive, define, and make sense of the nature of corruption, and how this perception affects their work practices in policing corruption. Two distinct logics – socially-reinforced moral licensing and integrity-draining demands – constitute this process of social construction, leading to blind spots in policing and paradoxical moral hazards for officers to engage in corruption. These novel insights expand prior research on the process of social construction of corruption and corruptibility in security forces, with important implications for theory and practice.