Dear Students and Colleagues,

The university has received reports that a Temple University police officer made a series of reprehensible comments to several young members of the Philadelphia community on our campus.

The allegations are deeply troubling. They run counter to this university’s values as well as the high standards that we hold for our Temple Police Officers.  

Our Department of Public Safety takes pride in serving not just the Temple community but also the North Philadelphia community. Let us be clear, the alleged behavior is unacceptable, not just for a Temple Police Officer but for any Temple employee.  

Please know that we take this incident extremely seriously. The university and the Department of Public Safety have launched an investigation and is reviewing the incident, including available evidence, incident reports and witness statements to determine exactly what occurred. The police officer involved has also been reassigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation.

We know trust between our university, our police officers and our North Philadelphia community must be earned continuously, and we intend to hold ourselves accountable to that end.

Sincerely,  

John Fry 
President

Richard Sobieray 
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer