NEWS

The Temple News

NEWS

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CAMPUS SAFETY Jennifer Griffin assesses campus safety initiatives

Griffin plans to act on task force recommendations as the Fall semester comes to a close. BY DEVON RUSSELL Assistant News Editor

Heading into the spring semester, Jennifer Griffin, vice president for public safety, has accepted recommendations from Temple’s Task Force on Violence Reduction to improve communication between the Temple University Police Department and students, and develop new and existing safety initiatives.

During her first 90 days, which came to a close on Nov. 20, Griffin familiarized herself with the campus as she worked with the university and community organizations to address campus safety goals, like reimagining current safety resources.

Areas near Main Campus have been experiencing high levels of crime. Within a two-week span in November, there were three off-campus home invasions involving Temple students. A group of Temple students were the victims of an arson attack in an off-campus home on Cleveland Street near Norris on Nov. 15.

In all instances, a Temple detective was dispatched to the scene to speak with the students involved, Griffin wrote in a message to the university.

“I would say that the first 90 days has gone well, for exploring the agency and starting this strategy,” Griffin said. “But we’re experiencing a lot of challenging, you know, issues here on campus and around campus.”

Here’s what to know about campus safety heading into next semester:

ACTION ON TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

On Nov. 15, the Task Force submitted a list of safety recommendations in a report to the university. The recommendations included creating an advisory board of students, parents and faculty, reassessing community outreach efforts and creating a dashboard showing crime trends and university violence reduction strategies.

The report reflected student and community safety concerns following the fatal shooting of a Temple student in November 2021.

Joseph Burch, a senior media studies and production major, feels that it’s not safe to go off-campus after 8 or 9 p.m.

“It’s just like they walk in a circle on campus and I do appreciate that they’re there but at the same time nothing much is really being done about it,” Burch said. “I think that actually affects the problem.”

To help address citywide engagement, Temple joined Philadelphia’s Civic Coalition to Save Lives, an organization that aims to increase collaborations between community organizations, non-profits, businesses and other entities to address gun violence.

“Temple quickly jumped on the opportunity,” Griffin said. “It’s really to bring together partners from all different parts of the city. So it’ll be education, social services, licenses, and especially, it’ll have and then a lot of different universities, a lot of nonprofits and for-profits all working together.”

COMMUNICATION EFFORTS

The Task Force recommended that the university improve communication strategies by sending out follow-up messages after TUalerts to provide a status update on the incident, creating a campus safety tab on TUportal and developing a new campus safety website to promote safety services within the Temple community and surrounding areas.

At a Temple Student Government town hall in August, Griffin shared her goals for improving communication between TUPD and students. Her goals included increasing social media presence and marketing efforts with advice from representatives of Temple’s Office of Strategic Communications and David Boardman, dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication, to inform students about recent crimes and the safety resources available.

The department is in the process of hiring a full-time communications and messaging director for public safety, Griffin said.

EARL KUFEN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Vice President for Public Safety Jennifer Griffin shares her goals on improving campus safety.

FUTURE INITIATIVES

Griffin is working with Temple’s Center for Anti-Racism to discuss best practices between students and the university, like communication and reflect on crime prevention and opportunities to improve safety initiatives.

Jennifer Ibrahim, interim dean of the College of Public Health and the School of Social Work is working alongside Griffin to create a team of TUPD and Master of Social Work students to respond to mental health crises within the patrol zone.

Through collaboration with the university and SSW, they hope to properly respond to mental health-related calls with MSW responders trained in crisis management assisting Temple police officers.

Griffin will continue to reassess safety initiatives and accept recommendations as they are given to her.

“We want to be really transparent,” Griffin said. “We want to engage with people. We want to make sure that they know what we’re doing.”

Shriya Gohel contributed to reporting.

DEVELOPMENT Best Nest Program launched for Temple students

The program provides students and parents with various offcampus housing resources.

BY DEVON RUSSELL Assistant News Editor

Temple University launched their Best Nest Program last month, providing students and parents looking for off-campus housing with resources aimed at evaluating the safety of local landlords’ properties.

The Best Nest program offers tools, like an inspection checklist for touring residences, education on leases and a website that lists Best Nest properties, which follow certain safety guidelines, to students interested in off-campus housing. Students can also use the Best Nest website, found on the university’s off-campus housing site, to leave reviews on previous landlords and residences.

“We want landlords to be accountable for certain things, especially around crime and safety prevention,” said Jonathan Reiter, Temple’s associate vice president of finance. “So our hope is that students take advantage and really just look to live in the properties that meet these criteria.”

The program, inspired by and modeled after University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Niner Choice Program which helps students and parents make off-campus housing decisions, aims to educate students and parents on the features they should search for when touring properties, including smoke alarms, sprinklers and locks on windows and doors.

To be eligible for the Best Nest program, a property must be located within the Temple Police Department’s patrol zone, which inclues from Susquehanna Avenue to Jefferson Street and 18th Street to 9th Street, and meet the program’s safety requirements, like the landlord having a license and no recent violations.

After a residence joins the program, it can receive a Cherry or Diamond Badge, a certification which indicates that the landlord has a valid license and that the property has outdoor cameras with retrievable footage and lighting that can illuminate at least two feet of surroundings.

Landlords who want the Cherry Badge can also apply for up to $2,500 of Temple’s Security Lighting and Video Camera Grant.

To qualify for the Diamond Badge, the residence must meet all Cherry Badge requirements, have no current code violations, less than three noise and trash violations within the past year and a 32-gallon trash can with recycling bins and storage for those bins.

The Cherry Badge indicates that the residence has met all crime prevention requirements, while the Diamond Badge status informs students and parents that the property met all crime prevention, residential safety and neighborly requirements.

Landlords must submit documentation of their landlord license and documents to verify their security features. To remain at the Best Nest status, landlords must recertify their license and safety features on an annual basis, Reiter wrote in an email to the Temple News.

Best Nest approved properties can be found on the Off-Campus Housing listing website by using the Best Nest filter.

As of Nov. 28, 10 properties have been listed as Diamond status, including The Edge, Kardon Atlantic, University Village, The View at Montgomery, Vantage and The Nest at 1342 North Broad. Temple Nest Apartments, an off-campus rental group, has been listed as Cherry status, Reiter wrote in an email to The Temple News.

Matthew Peduto, a freshman psychology major, thinks that freshmen will benefit the most from the program.

“They’re new at looking for houses,” Peduto said. “Like when I started looking, I had no idea what I was doing. And it’s stressful for people who are upperclassmen, like seniors or juniors, who understand the way it works and how to rent the house, they’d probably still use it, but it’d be less of a factor for them to use.”

Giovanna Cicalese, a junior English major, feels that the program encourages students to make informed housing decisions.

“Yeah, I think some people might want to, might be more cautious about it and might take into account the security of places more,” Cicalese said. “I think it might benefit some people.”

Temple hopes that the majority of landlords in the area will be signed up for the program by the next academic year, Reiter said.

“We really just wanted to provide additional resources to students and also have a way to hold landlords accountable, the landlords that rent out to Temple students in the surrounding neighborhood,” Reiter said.

RJ FRANCESCHINI / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Landlords applying for the Cherry Badge can receive an up to $2,500 grant for improved security measures.

Giovanna Cicalese has freelanced for The Temple News. She played no role in the reporting or editing of this story.

devon.russell@temple.edu @devonkate_

CAMPUS SAFETY Poll: Temple’s campus safety efforts aren’t enough

The Temple News surveyed students to find out how safe they feel on and off campus.

BY RACHEL TOWNSEND Data Editor

The majority of Temple University students feel that the university could be doing more to protect students from crime around campus.

Eighty-nine percent of students answered “no” when asked if they feel Temple is doing enough to protect its students and only about 11 percent responded “yes.” Just less than 50 percent of students reported they have considered transferring because of their safety concerns.

“After the several break ins on Temple off campus housing and the late response to doing something about these robberies, I’ve felt like Temple hasn’t cared enough about the safety of students off campus,” wrote an anonymous student who responded to the survey.

The Temple News surveyed approximately 470 students about their thoughts on the university’s campus safety response.

Areas surrounding Main Campus have experienced recurring instances of crime during the Fall semester, including petty theft and home invasions.

Temple is only required to report crimes that occur directly on campus, on public property bordering campus or at affiliated campus buildings, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. This means crimes, like the fatal shooting of a Temple student in November 2021 on Park Avenue near Susquehanna Avenue, were undocumented in the university’s 2021 crime report.

On Nov. 11, two armed men broke into a residence and held 11 students at gunpoint in a basement. The incident came after a similar home invasion occurred on Nov. 9 and was followed by an invasion on Nov. 21.

The university released statements following the incidents to update students and provide them with counseling resources.

When asked how safe students feel on campus, only 8 percent of respondents said they feel very safe on campus, roughly 45 percent feel safe and about 24 percent feel neither safe or unsafe. In comparison, 14 percent feel unsafe and roughly 8 percent of students reported feeling very unsafe on campus.

“More actions need to be taken as many of us do not even feel safe being in our homes,” wrote an anonymous student who responded to the survey. “Little is done to increase safety and many incidents go unreported by the school which is not ok. Every single incident that happens whether on campus or off should be reported if a student is involved.”

When students were asked how safe they feel off-campus, nearly 45 percent said they feel unsafe and around 31 percent feel very unsafe. Almost 21 percent felt neither safe or unsafe and only 4 percent felt either safe or very safe off-campus.

“Living off campus for a year and a half now, there are times where I feel safe and times where I do not,” wrote an anonymous student who responded to the survey. “It is disheartening to hear about all the crime targeted towards Temple students lately, and I think Temple should reevaluate their safety initiatives to keep us all safe.”

The university created a violence reduction task force in January aimed at mitigating violence in areas surrounding Temple. The task force released a report which details their efforts and plans on Nov. 18. A few of their recommendations include strengthening communication between students and the university, reviewing and improving existing efforts and developing a plan for funding towards reduction efforts.

There was nearly a 50 percent split among student respondents when asked if they considered transferring from

EARL KUFEN / THE TEMPLE NEWS

After three home invasions, nearly 45 percent of Temple students said they feel unsafe being off campus.

Temple due to safety concerns. Many students feel like their safety is not being considered when the university makes decisions.

“The Temple administration is choosing to be completely ignorant of [students’] worries and safety concerns, I have thought about transferring multiple times due to their lack of concern for my well-being,” wrote an anonymous student who responded to the survey.

Temple has implemented several safety initiatives for students, like the Walking Escort Program, the Code Blue Emergency phones, the RAVE Temple Guardian app and the FLIGHT shuttle service.

Approximately 49 percent of student respondents have not used any of these programs, but 46 percent said they have used FLIGHT before.

Although Temple relaunched FLIGHT as a fixed route system on Aug. 20, students feel that the change made the program less safe due to the fact riders have to walk further once they’re dropped off. There are now more than 40 fixed stops in the university’s patrol area. The routes go as far north as Diamond Street, as far south as Master Street and between North 12th and North 18th Street.

“I am confused on why the FLIGHT was changed to bus stops and routes instead of the destination pick up and drop off,” wrote an anonymous student who responded to the survey. “I do not feel safe waiting at a bus stop at night and have not used it for that reason. I feel as though the previous method was safer and smarter.”

In addition, about 11 percent of students have used the Walking Escort Program and only 8 percent have used the RAVE app, introduced in February 2022. The least-used campus safety resource is the Code Blue Emergency phones with approximately 3 percent of respondents sharing they have used them.

In response to feeling unsafe at and around Temple, students have suggestions for what should be done to address safety challenges.

“I think Temple should only offer virtual classes at night, or at least have ample alternative classes they could take,” one anonymous respondent wrote. “It’s unsafe for the majority of their students to walk home at 8 p.m.”

have not used it for that reason. I feel as though the previous method was safer and smarter.”

In response to feeling unsafe at and around Temple, students have given their own suggestions on what should be done.

“I think Temple should only offer virtual classes at night, or at least have ample alternative classes they could take,” one anonymous respondent wrote. “It’s unsafe for the majority of their students to walk home at 8pm.”

rachel.townsend0001@temple.edu @racheltownsendd