Safety concerns mount as Temple University welcomes students back to campus
PHILADELPHIA - As Temple University welcomes students back to campus ahead of the Fall semester, Philadelphia's gun violence crisis continues to spiral out of control leading to safety concerns.
According to the latest data from the Philadelphia Police Department, there have been more than 340 homicides in the city this year.
That number is outpacing 2021's historically tragic 562 murders by 2%, according to the data.
Campus safety has always been a hot-button issue at Temple University, especially after the shooting death of Sam Collington in a botched robbery last fall.
To help quell the safety concerns of students and parents, Temple hired a Vice President of Public Safety and beefed up security measures.
Stacey Achen, who dropped off her Alec on Tuesday, told FOX 29's Jennifer Joyce that she was hesitant to send her child to the school but was reassured after a campus visit.
"I didn’t want him coming here, I was very concerned, but once we did a campus visit realized security is really tight, that was very reassuring," Achen said.
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Temple's police force last winter openly admitted that it was understaffed, operating at 60% normal capacity plus abnormal overtime shifts.
The university responded by making more hires and upping patrols around campus as part of its safety enhancements shared by the school in March.
"It’s kind of a stigma around safety around here, but whenever I’ve been here it’s been safe never had any issues with it," Donnie Robson, a Temple freshman, said.
Fall semester classes will start at Temple on Aug. 23