When help is required within the university’s patrol zone, individuals are encouraged to call Temple Police: 215-204-1234. Save that number in your phone. The call goes right to a Temple University dispatcher, who will send a Temple Police Officer to the location of the incident within the patrol zone.
The Best Nest program is a collection of resources that can be used to help students and their families make informed off-campus housing decisions.
Flight is Temple’s free fixed-route evening shuttle service operating on and around campus.
Flight runs daily and picks up and drops off passengers at over 40 stops along two routes. Any student, faculty or staff member with a valid OWLcard (the Temple University identification card) can use Flight.
For more information on Flight, including service area, hours of operation, frequently asked questions and other shuttle services, visit Shuttle Services on the Campus Operations site.
Walking escorts are available to accompany individuals to locations within Temple’s patrol boundaries. Escorts are security bike officers that maintain communication with Temple Police.
To request a walking escort, call 8-WALK (8-9255) from a campus phone or 215-777-9255 from a cell mobile phone.
Flight is another option for traveling to off-campus residences.
Safety is our top priority and students are introduced to programs and resources during their Temple Preview experience at Orientation. Students may also choose to register for an optional Owls in the City session, which goes into more detail about navigating life and staying safe in a major American city.
Introductory self-defense workshops are available to students and employees upon request. For more information check out our Safety Education programs.
The university offers the Good Neighbor Initiative, which educates students about the surrounding neighborhood and how to be productive members of the community while attending Temple.
The Health and Well-being Division at Temple University takes a holistic approach to promoting a campus culture of mental, physical and social wellness for all students, faculty and staff.
The path to positive health and well-being is unique to each individual and the division is here to support your journey. We are flexible, inclusive and responsive to the needs of our community and provide students, faculty and staff with medical care, mental health support and heath advocacy services.
Parents can empower students to apply crime prevention planning and measures wherever they are present. They can encourage students to use the services and resources available at Temple, including:
For more information about living off campus – visit Safety Tips for Living Off Campus
It is critically important to call for help whenever a student's health/life may be at risk, and that determinati on should be made by medical professionals. Neither the student who alerts us, (nor the student who has had too much to drink, will be cited when an ambulance is called for an alcohol poisoning under the university’s medical amnesty program.
Temple University Police Officers are highly visible both on campus and within the university’s patrol zone. Police patrol campus by vehicle, foot and bicycle 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Temple University Police Department (TUPD) falls under the oversight and management of Temple University’s Department of Public Safety (TUDPS), which also contracts Philadelphia Police for added security during high volume times. In addition to having sworn police officers patrol campus, TUDPS manages more than 300 contracted security officers whose jobs are to watch for unauthorized people and unusual occurrences; and report emergencies to Temple Police upon discovery. Furthermore, TUDPS has a robust security camera system. We operate nearly 1,500 security cameras that are monitored by the university’s own dispatch center, which is also staffed 24/7. Our Public Safety team works together to ensure that the 40,000 people who live, work and learn on and around campus feel safe at all times.
Yes. Public Safety maintains a collaborative network with the Philadelphia Police Department, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, Upper Dublin Police Department (Ambler Campus) and other law enforcement agencies. Temple Police maintains memoranda of understanding with both the Philadelphia Police Department and with the Upper Dublin Police Department.
Each officer is a Pennsylvania-certified law enforcement officer who has received state-mandated police recruit training at an accredited police academy and is authorized to enforce the law and make arrests similar to any municipal police department officer.
Annually, Temple Police are certified through state-mandated, in-service training in accordance with the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission. Training modules include updates to the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, Vehicle Code and Rules of Criminal Procedure. Other training sessions focus on the core concepts of procedural justice and police legitimacy, and address how to build respectful and effective relationships with the community while improving officer safety. Additional training includes certification in CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators.
On the Main Campus, Temple Police patrols the area between 9th Street to the east and 18th Street to the west and from Susquehanna Avenue to the north and Jefferson Avenue to the south. An additional patrol area between 13th Street to the east and Broad Street to the west extends south to Girard Avenue to include the Temple Sports Complex.
Areas falling outside of these borders are patrolled by the Philadelphia Police Department.
An interactive map of Temple University's campuses and locations that includes accessibility paths, patrol zones, FLIGHT stops, and Code Blue phones can be found here: route.temple.edu
No. State law sets limits as to Temple Police’s jurisdiction.
TUalert is Temple University’s emergency notification system used to deliver critical information to our students, faculty, and staff via text and email. These alerts are only sent for situations, incidents, or emergencies that pose an immediate threat or hazard on campus or within the university patrol zone and require immediate action on the part of the campus community. TUalerts are sent in accordance with the Temple University Emergency Communication and Timely Warnings Policy (PDF).
Alert information for the general public is also posted on Temple University’s Twitter feed.
Parents and families are encouraged to follow @TempleAlert on Twitter to receive updates.
TUalerts are sent when there is an imminent public safety danger and a threat to campus or when students are required to take action due to extenuating circumstance.
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Police and Campus Crime Statistics Act is a federal law that, among other things, requires institutions of higher education in the U.S. to disclose campus security information including crime statistics and security information.
The Clery Act requires higher education institutions to give timely warnings of crimes that represent a threat to the safety of students or employees, and to make public their campus security policies. It also requires that crime data is collected, reported and disseminated to the campus community and is also submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.
Under the Clery Act, institutions of higher education are responsible for publishing an annual security report and maintaining a public crime log.
We are proud to be Philadelphia’s public university and strive to make our community conscious of the safety considerations that are part of living in a large city.
If a crime does occur on campus, notify Temple Police immediately by dialing 1-1234 from a campus phone or 215-204-1234 from a cell phone.
Temple University Police Officers are fully certified police officers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and are empowered to make arrests. TUPD works with all local, Pennsylvania state and federal agencies.
Students are expected to contact the Department of Public Safety immediately if they witness or are subject to crimes against university property (burglary, vandalism), nonviolent crimes (theft and fraud), and violent crimes against persons involving assault and armed robbery. Students are encouraged to save the number to Temple Police in their cell phones. The number is 215-204-1234.
To make the Temple community safer, the Temple University Police Department (TUPD) was established more than 50 years ago. TUPD is composed of sworn law enforcement officers who have each received state-mandated training from an accredited police academy. They know our Temple community inside and out. TUPD works daily with the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), and the SEPTA Police and other law enforcement agencies. Our working relationship helps ensure a safe campus community in several ways. In addition to the university having its own police force, Temple also contracts police officers from PPD, called supplemental patrols. These additional police officers add a layer of protection, support TUPD police officers and help ensure safety.
Temple’s approach to solving violence in the region is a holistic one and it will continue to invest in, and support, programs that create educational opportunities, economic development and research regarding substance use disorders, trauma and violence reduction.
Many of Temple’s faculty and staff study, raise awareness and work to prevent gun violence in Philadelphia. Temple University Hospital is the city’s first and most frequent responder to victims of gun violence and our medical community is deeply connected to this issue and is dedicated to making an impact. The practitioners and activists included below have been featured for their integral contributions to the field. For more information visit our Community Engagement & Research page.
The university works closely with the Philadelphia Police Department. The Temple dispatching system is integrated with the Philadelphia Police 911. In addition to Temple patrol, officers from the 22nd police district patrol the areas surrounding the campus and collaborate daily with Temple regarding directing patrols. Temple University financially supports the supplemental Philadelphia Police patrols around the campus area into our neighboring community where students live off campus.
Philadelphia Police Department officers on patrol in this area maintain communication through the coordination with Temple’s dispatchers and Philadelphia Police dispatchers. As a communication redundancy, Temple patrol supervisors have Philadelphia Police radios to coordinate communication in real time. They are able to respond in a timely, coordinated manner.
