Why universities turn to the police to end student protests − and why that can spiral out of control

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

John J. Sloan III, University of Alabama at Birmingham

(THE CONVERSATION) A two-week standoff between Columbia University administration and student protesters who advocated for the school to divest from companies that work in or support Israel culminated on April 30, 2024, one day after a group of students occupied a campus building, Hamilton Hall.

New York police arrested 109 demonstrators at Columbia and 173 other demonstrators at City College, in uptown Manhattan, on April 30.

The Conversation U.S. politics and society editor Amy Lieberman spoke with John J. Sloan III, a scholar of crime and police on college campuses at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to better understand the different roles that police play on university and college campuses.

How do universities differ in working with police?

The first documented appearance of a sworn police officer...