Abstract
Based on primary empirical data obtained on the UK's Integrated Special Branch (ISB), the article examines the amount of discretion lower ranking operational officers have in conducting high policing investigations. The investigations studied were counterterrorist investigations carried out over the research period of 2000–2007 using the research method of covert participant observation. During the research period, I was a detective sergeant in a UK police force's ISB department. This is the first type of study carried out on an agency involved in policing national security. The main submission is that compared to their lower ranking colleagues in low policing, such as the uniform department, operational officers in high policing have little or no opportunity to apply discretion when applying the law during their investigations.
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