BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- Temple University plans to increase its campus police force by 58% over five years, adding 29 officers based on a staffing study.
- Former Temple President Richard Englert canceled support for a police foundation in 2020, redirecting the funds to social justice programs.
- The university has engaged 21CP Solutions, led by former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, who helped implement safety recommendations such as increased foot patrols and security technology.
- Temple Public Safety head Jennifer Griffin previously had a strained relationship with the university police force.
Temple University, which over the last few years has dealt with various concerns surrounding public safety, recently “pledged” to increase its campus police force by 58 percent “over five years” based on recommendations of a staffing study.
Temple President John Fry, who said public safety was a “top priority” for him upon assuming his position a year ago, promised a total of 29 new police officers The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“We must, and we will, deploy ever more compelling and creative incentives to make Temple’s Department of Public Safety a destination employer for law enforcement in our region,” Fry said.
The university plans to hire the firm 21CP Solutions to “assist” in the endeavor, which is run by former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey. Temple hired Ramsey in 2021 for a safety audit following the shooting of a student.
The police staffing study was among the last of the audit’s suggestions.
Based on Ramsey’s recommendation in 2023, Temple increased the number of foot patrols, added more security cameras, and “increased technology in the communications center.”
In early 2026, Philly Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel noted the city will add two additional bike patrol officers to Temple (six from four), and the personnel will be more consistent.
Temple Vice President for Public Safety said Jennifer Griffin said in response “the ability to have relationships and collaborations … will be better because it’ll be a consistent group […] I truly believe it will help position us as one of the highest-performing university police departments in the country.”
Griffin, whose 2022 appointment initially was greeted with optimism by the Temple police union, soured relations with campus cops several months later.
A “longtime Delaware State Police Trooper,” FBI National Academy graduate, and former U. Delaware adjunct, Griffin allegedly called Temple University Police Association President Alec Shaffer an “unprofessional punk” and a “loser” during a press conference in early 2023.
Later that year, she allegedly “threatened disciplinary action” against Temple officers who had “promot[ed] a clothing drive for the needy.”
Shaffer told The Fix at the time that Griffin had come to Temple “with a closed mind and a lack of comprehension about our department’s inner workings and the vibrant culture of North Philadelphia.”
In the last few years, Temple students and parents have demanded better security at the Philadelphia school. But like many colleges and universities following the killing of George Floyd, Temple engaged in at least one official anti-police measure: Former Temple President Richard Englert had announced in June of 2020 that the school would “no longer provide financial support to the Philadelphia Police Foundation.” The funds instead were used “to support social justice programs.”
News reports since 2020 have noted the protests and subsequent reactions to Floyd’s murder were a significant factor in staffing concerns at all levels of policing.
