Temple Partnering With Former Philly Top Cop To Enhance Safety

PHILADELPHIA — In an effort to boost campus safety, Temple University is now partnering with a former Philadelphia Police Commissioner to audit the school's campus safety service and is launching a new safety app.

Effective now, Philadelphia Police Department Charles H. Ramsey is auditing Temples safety services.

"Charles Ramsey is one of the most decorated police commissioners in recent history, and his track record speaks for itself. His work in Philadelphia and with President Obama has been well-documented, but he also had great success leading police forces in both Chicago and Washington, D.C.," Temple President Dr. Jason Wingard said. "We are committed to enhancing safety around campus and Commissioner Ramsey’s expertise will be key to ensuring that we are on the right path."

Ramsey serves as police commissioner from January 2008 to January 2016.

During his tenure, the city’s homicide rate dropped 37 percent, and the violent crime decreased 31 percent.

Ramsey previously co-chaired President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

In late December, the President hosted his first listening session on campus safety, walking and speaking with students, parents, landlords and Temple Police Officers.

Wingard also has formed a Task Force on Violence Reduction Strategies, which will be used to keep key constituents, including parents and North Philadelphia residents, engaged in enhancing safety.

The task force is one of many efforts designed to help elevate Temple’s anti-violence research and programs and to devise new solutions to help address Philadelphia’s gun violence epidemic.

"The answers to solving this crisis can be found only by harnessing the collective expertise of the entire Temple community," Wingard said. "This is all hands on deck and through the Task Force on Violence Reduction Strategies, we will bring together voices from across Temple and Philadelphia as we work together toward real, tangible solutions."

Also, Temple is launching the RAVE Temple Guardian app on Monday, Feb. 14

Students will be able to connect directly with Temple University Police through the app, enabling them to request both virtual or physical escorts and to report any suspicious activity.

Temple will encourage all students, faculty and staff members to download the free Guardian app at the App Store or Google Play.

"We believe that the RAVE technology has the potential to be a gamechanger for the Temple community," said Charlie Leone, executive director of public safety. "No one should ever have to feel unsafe while on campus and this ensures that wherever our students go, they can be reassured that help is just a click away."

Additional campus safety enhancements are already underway, including:

• 30 percent expansion of FLIGHT, Temple’s on-demand evening shuttle service, which added two new shuttles for the spring semester. A rider survey is underway and will be used to inform further improvements.
• Technology enhancements are being installed on campus including additional lighting, cameras, and emergency phones.
• The number of Philadelphia Police Officers patrolling nearby areas has been doubled.
• New Temple police officers and trainees are being hired following January recruitment efforts. So far, four new police officers are on patrol, six individuals have been hired as officers or trainees, and 12 more already-trained officers have begun the interview process. With an additional 70 applicants, Temple hopes to have a sizable number for its next police academy.
• A highly successful, day-long hiring event was hosted for Allied Universal, Temple’s on-campus security provider, to help it increase its force.
• Temple University Hospital continues to look at gun violence through a different lens with its Temple Safety Net, led by Amy Goldberg, surgeon-in-chief for Temple Health and interim dean of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, and Scott Charles, trauma outreach manager. A number of its innovative outreach programs, like Cradle to the Grave, Fighting Chance, and Safe Bet, continue to help reduce the number of Philadelphians who suffer firearm injuries.