Among calls for abolition, experts weigh costs and benefits of WU police departments for the campus and community

After a summer of nationwide protests over systemic racism and police brutality, college students across the country have looked to implement calls for racial justice at a local level by demanding the abolition of university police departments. At Washington University, more than 100 students recently marched across campus demanding the abolition of the Washington University Police Department (WUPD).

Emily Owens, a professor of Criminology, Law, and Society at the University of California,…