The research and input from stakeholders informed the reorganization of Temple University Public Safety, previously named Campus Safety Services. The services performed by our distinct units of police officers, including supervisors and detectives, security officers, communications center dispatchers, and contracted Allied Universal security officers, go far beyond our campus boundaries, or what is considered traditional campus safety. In fact, Sgt. Fitzgerald was performing proactive policing off campus, within the patrol zone we co-patrol with PPD. Part of the reorganization has been the complete revision and enhancement of the public safety organizational chart with the proposed and approved expansion to bring on over a dozen strategic and tactical leadership and operational positions, while also aggressively hiring qualified individuals to fulfill open police officer positions. We have posted, and will continue to post, 15 positions, some of which are completely new open positions to increase our capacity and impact to serve our community more effectively. 

For example, there are currently three key leadership positions posted, including director of messaging and communication, deputy director of organizational affairs, and director/captain of tactics and professional development. Additional postings include positions in Administrative Operations, Budget and Finance, Professional Standards and Advocacy, Accreditations, Patrol and Security Operations, Criminal Investigations, Training, Technology and Systems, Engagement, Event Operations, and Equipment and Technology. These positions are critical to Public Safety developing and expanding our skills and capabilities department wide to better serve the university and community. It should be noted that while other department budgets have been reduced, our budget has not.

The current job market to hire police officers is exceedingly difficult and there is a nationwide challenge for law enforcement agencies keeping up with attrition and retirements. We have lost several police officers who have chosen to leave the profession of policing, in addition to officers that are joining more rural departments. Our strategy is grounded in recruiting and hiring the most qualified individuals to join our department while maintaining our current staffing through retention. We are also hiring and building the department's capacity to provide in-house training through our new Tactical and Professional Development Unit. At the end of January, there were 72 police officers, compared to 79 in early December 2021. If sworn officers working in other capacities, such as supervisors and detectives, are included, there were 97 this January, compared to 110 in December 2021. Although these numbers are not where we would like, we are increasing our efforts and reviewing additional tactics to improve our recruitment and retainment efforts. However, we will not lower our hiring standards as there are issues for agencies that reduce their standards to increase numbers.

A new associate director of administrative operations position will be posted within the next week; the candidate will lead all public safety human resources efforts to recruit, hire, onboard and retain employees. A new contract for our police officers in 2022 increased the starting salary to $59,200, an 8–10% increase from the prior salary contracts depending on years of service. Even with our revised advertising strategy and salary, including a highlighted benefits package which includes free tuition to the employee, tuition remission for officers and their dependents, and a generous match plan for TIAA/Fidelity retirement accounts, we are not seeing the number of candidates we need or desire. We also consistently post to hire lateral (currently certified) police officers, and candidates who are not certified and will need to go through the police academy to add to officer ranks. We are currently reviewing our salary and benefits package to ensure we are competitive to hire and retain police officers.

Regarding safety and security on and around campus, Temple University police officers have returned to work in two officer partner capacities. We will continue to evaluate this practice. The PPD primarily ride in single-officer vehicles, excluding wagons or tactical teams/units. This is a common practice nationwide. We will continue to evaluate this strategy and if adjustments need to be made throughout the semester. Factors we consider are 

1. the area that we cover, approximately one mile; 
2. the proximity and short response time of TUPD and PPD due to the area we co-police; 
3. the impacts of doubling up officers; and 
4.  other deployment strategies that could be utilized.

Although we do not share the same radios or frequency with PPD, we are in constant communication. We have seven PPD radio, assigned to administration, the patrol commander, the investigations commander, the Health Sciences Center, and the remainder to patrol supervisors. In fact, on the night of Sergeant Fitzgerald’s shooting, a TUPD supervisor utilized a PPD radio to call for assistance. Our Communications Center team has complete viewing access to the PPD computer-aided dispatch (CAD) screens that show the calls for service and complaints citywide. At a leadership level, we are in communication with PPD leadership and with the 22nd District command several times a week, if not daily. We also attend weekly shooting review meetings, and their bi-weekly CompStat meetings. Our investigative commander is in daily contact with PPD investigative commanders, and our detectives work on cases together to ensure all investigative leads are exhausted.

We have renegotiated, modified and enhanced our working agreement with PPD to provide supplemental patrol resources, which started again this week. This new program, for up to 288 hours a week of additional patrol hours, is designed to bolster the effectiveness and efficiency of the program and to provide adequate staff for the hours. This enhanced program also provides guidelines and tactical strategic plans on officer deployment and the activities they are to perform in specific designated hot spots, while tracking production, contacts and outreach. The program also increases the communication between the officers completing the assignments and supervisors from TUPD and PPD. This restructure was not without considerable evaluation, input and discussions with TUPD supervisors and officers and PPD leadership on the next steps. 

This new program will draw from a citywide pool of eligible PPD officers, not just the 22nd District, and will be overseen by PPD First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford and myself. PPD supervisors and officers will be briefed before they start patrol and will be provided operational TUPD radios and supplemental patrol documentation sheets to gather specific information and outreach efforts during their patrols. We have created higher levels of accountability to better address the violence and criminal activities that we are experiencing. The strategy is based on the identification of hot spots and evidence-based policing. 

We are also collaborating with academic, community and city partners to inform our policing policies, practices and decisions and I personally have been in consultation with criminal justice, public health and other experts who have researched and have been providing resources in and throughout the city. We are not going to be able to police our way out of this crisis without considerable collaboration and coordination of resources within and outside of the university. We need a combination of intervention and prevention strategies from the entire city of Philadelphia criminal justice system and social services to effect change.

There are several types of communication that we use to share information.  
 
First is the TUalert system, which sends text messages and emails to the Temple community. These messages are used to communicate information to Temple students, faculty and staff that require immediate action. Alerts are sent for situations, incidents or emergencies that pose an imminent threat or hazard on campus or within the university patrol zone. These are not sent for several reasons, including if there is an immediate arrest of the suspect, or if the incident happened so far before the report to police that there is no longer a threat to the community. These are also not used for crimes that occur outside of TUPD’s patrol zone. 
 
We are increasing the use of messaging through our Twitter and Instagram accounts to share information and updates, and the daily crime and Clery log are all publicly accessible resources for incidents on campus that do not rise to the level of a TUalert.  

In February 2023 we created and launched our Public Safety website to provide more transparency and details on a variety of topics such as safety messages, community engagement outreach and opportunities, training opportunities, and crime and case updates. 

A new director of messaging and communications position is on schedule to be hired as our first in-house communications specialist to increase messaging and transparency through numerous media platforms to reach our diverse stakeholders. 

• Over 1,000 lights mounted on building rooftops. The 1,000-watt metal halide bulbs create a bright white illumination that mimics daylight at ground level.

• Ensuring shrubbery is appropriately located and maintained so that all areas are illuminated properly and safety hazards are corrected.

• Enhancing communication through technology. The Temple Guardian App is a one-touch personal safety mobile app that allows students, faculty and staff to request a virtual safety walk, call or connect directly with Temple University Police.

• Providing shuttle services for convenient transport on and around the Main campus. Flight Loop provides service to/ from over 50 designated drop-off/pick up points to students traveling within Temple University patrol zone.

• Maintaining Code Blue Emergency Phones. There are approximately 90 outdoor emergency phones strategically located on campus walkways, near on-campus student housing facilities and university buildings, and at or near parking areas on the Main, Health Sciences Center, and Ambler campuses. These communication devices are highly visible and provide a fully self-contained emergency communication device for anyone in urgent need of assistance

• Maintaining video imaging systems (security cameras). Temple University has more than 600 cameras within the Public Safety video imaging system installed on various campuses with images streaming to a central server authorized by Public Safety. Campus cameras include both internal and external uses, with low-level and rooftop perspectives.