Nearly 90% of surveyed Temple students said the university’s Department of Public Safety needs improvement, according to a recent poll conducted by The Temple News between Jan. 4 and 16.
The 120 respondents’ opinions differed on their perceived safety and how they felt the university should improve. While 90% of surveyed students noted the need for change at Temple, only about 47% said the university does not do enough to keep students safe.
DPS currently alerts students about crime with TUalerts, a system that communicates to students via text, email and the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
However, approximately 48% of surveyed students find the Citizen App, a service that provides safety alerts in real time based on location, more reliable for neighborhood crime updates compared to only about 21% who rely on TUalerts.
Ekta Shah, a junior marketing student, believes TUalerts are effective, but thinks the department can shorten the time it takes to release an alert. She often hears of incidents in real time through friends.
“I think they could be more on time because I hear something and then I get notified about it [through TUalerts] 10 minutes later,” Shah said.
Zoe Bouge experienced late alerts firsthand during the Spring 2024 semester.
“I was walking and then someone started shooting, and people had to duck behind cars,” said Bouge, a junior legal studies and finance double major. “It was on 16th [Street] and there wasn’t an alert for like an hour after.”
TUalerts are released in the event of immediate threats to students’ safety within the Temple University Police Department’s patrol boundaries and require an officer at the scene of the crime to confirm the incident report before the alert is published, The Temple News reported.
TUPD’s patrol zone extends from 9th Street to 18th Street and Susquehanna Avenue to Jefferson Street.
About 63% of students who wanted DPS improvements felt TUalerts and communication needed changes. Many students rely on the Citizen App due to firearm usage off campus, which they feel TUalerts fail to report.
“TUalerts are few and far between actual crimes being reported,” wrote an anonymous survey respondent. “The Citizen App is the only way to truly stay informed on what’s happening ON and AROUND campus.”
Only 20% of surveyed students said they approve of the performance of Vice President for Public Safety Jennifer Griffin, but about 48% of respondents said they were unfamiliar with her. When Griffin was appointed in 2022, she declared a commitment to safety and communication.
In December, the Temple University Police Association said more than 50 police officers have left the department under Griffin’s leadership in the last two years and there are now just 41 patrol police officers. DPS has not confirmed these numbers.
The union claims that Griffin’s leadership has neglected officer safety and shared inaccurate staffing numbers on a Temple website.
Approximately 44% of surveyed students believe there could be more officers within the TUPD patrol zone.
“There are NOT enough officers to keep this amount of students safe in North Philly,” wrote an anonymous survey respondent. “That’s just a fact, the officer to student ratio is terrible.”
Temple also maintains different programs for students safely traveling within the TUPD patrol zone like FLIGHT, a fixed-route shuttle system from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., and the Walking Escort Program, which is available 24 hours. A majority of students said they find these tools effective, TTN’s poll found.

A few survey respondents wrote that FLIGHT should reach off-campus students outside of the bus loop, past Susquehanna Street and further down Broad Street However, FLIGHT is restricted to the TUPD patrol zone, which cannot extend its boundaries due to jurisdictional agreements with the Philadelphia Police Department, Griffin told The Temple News in April 2024.
Other survey respondents argued that the FLIGHT system should change to dropping off students at a specific location to ensure safety. Sara Al Haffar, a senior psychology student who lives almost 20 minutes away from campus, also shared this sentiment.
“Ever since they went from an ‘Uber’ system to a bus system where they go on a loop, I feel like it has been inefficient,” Al Haffar said. “I feel like every time I have to go to a FLIGHT, they’re usually 25 minutes away.”
When Al Haffar was a freshman, FLIGHT ran on a need-based system. She wants the shuttles to operate on a similar system to avoid a scenario where she has to walk home by herself.
“It does get really infuriating, especially during the wintertime,” Al Haffar said. “I have to either risk having to just walk back to my apartment, because there’s no point in having to really wait for that long, or I wait in the Tech Center vestibule, because that has adequate heating, and I don’t want to risk having to wait outside in the cold.”
While Al Haffar has used the Walking Escort Program situationally, she believes investing in FLIGHT would be more beneficial for students. Conversely, some survey respondents expressed discontent with the program.
“The issue is that what 20-year-old male is going to admit to calling a walking escort program to walk him 10 minutes home from wherever he is at night?” wrote an anonymous student. “They would rather walk by themselves than do that, so why not get rid of the program and have more officers on the streets while it’s dark?”
The Walking Escort Program utilizes Allied Security staff, not TUPD officers. Allied Security maintains communication with TUPD, but cannot act in the same way as law enforcement officers as private security guards.
Students were divided on TUPD presence. Some survey respondents wrote that there needs to be more police and security guard presence on and off campus.
After Bouge’s personal experience with an off-campus shooter, she believes TUalerts should not only be time efficient, but they should also be a higher level of patrol outside of campus.
Other survey respondents noted that solving the issue of gun violence would require community outreach. Currently, the Department of Public Safety has an initiative to establish community partnerships through the Temple Community Gateway hub, created in Fall 2023.
“This is a community/North Philadelphia issue and not one reserved strictly for Temple students,” wrote an anonymous survey respondent. “Temple needs to work together with the neighborhood that it resides in to improve the safety and relationships of both their students and the people already living in the area.”