Charlie Leon, acting executive director of Campus Safety Services, spoke at Temple Student Government’s second meeting of the semester Monday night, Sept. 16, in room 200C of the Student Center. He went over past incidents, the trend of campus safety so far this semester and new initiatives.
The first incident from this semester which Leon highlighted was a Temple student who was jumped by other students on Aug. 22. The accused aggressors are being charged with aggravated assault.
The other incident Leone discussed was the block party on North 15th and Fontain streets on Aug. 23. He explained how Temple police, in cooperation with the other police forces in the area, broke up the block party early. After all was said and done, there were over 250 citations and referrals, 30 people were taken to the hospital for alcohol and four people arrested for operating an illegal bar.
Leone displayed a chart comparing number of incidents in August 2012 to August 2013 with a noticeable drop across the board.
However, as The Temple News reported in the Sept. 17 issue, campus police crackdowns have resulted in around 270 arrests or citations in the first four weeks of school.
He also announced a number of new programs including student focus groups for feedback, new safety awareness videos and a bike registration program designed at cutting down bike theft.
Temple Police will also be issued electronic tablets to make incident reporting easier, according to Leone. The last of the announced initiatives is called “Walking Escort Program” which allows Temple students to request an escort to get home by calling 8-9255 from a campus phone or 215-777-9255 between 4 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The second scheduled guest, Institutional Advancement’s Associate Director Student and Employer Networks, Maureen Fisher, was absent.
Next, the directors of TSG’s individual departments were announced then individually introduced themselves and explained what they are planning to accomplish for the future.
Two positions are still open within TSG, Speaker of the General Assembly and Auditor General. Both applications can be found in the TSG office and interviews will be conducted soon.
The meeting ended with the open forum where, among other issues, a number of students noted problems with their academic advising.
