Temple University has paid landlords for more than 300 new cameras and lighting for off-campus student housing

Temple University students have repeatedly said they feel safe on the school’s North Philadelphia campus, which is well lit and covered by nearly 1,500 cameras.

But off-campus is where things feel more precarious.

To help, the university about a year-and-a-half ago announced a new grant program for landlords that rent to students in the university’s police patrol zone, promising to pay up to $2,500 per property for new cameras and lighting. The program is open only to landlords licensed by the city.

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Since then, more than 300 cameras and additional floodlights have been installed at 134 properties within the zone, university officials said recently. The zone extends from North Susquehanna Avenue to West Jefferson Street and North 18th to North Ninth Streets with an extension on Broad Street down to Girard. The university declined to say exactly how much it has spent, but said the amount is well into the six figures — if every property got the full $2,500, which it didn’t, the total would be $335,000.

And the school is willing to pay for more.

“We were limited as to the number of cameras and lights we could put in the community because it’s not our property,” said Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer. “We also felt that Temple inserting cameras in the community probably is not something that would be well received. This strategy was a way to get cameras, get lights out there while also improving the properties of the homes in our community, making the streets and the community itself safer.”

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The university decided to launch the program in March 2022 in response to concerns about safety around the campus and immediately following a survey by student government and parent forums that cited the need for more cameras and lighting. The survey found that more than 80% of students living in campus housing reported feeling safe in their residence, compared with 56% of those in private housing near campus.

The decision to start the grant program came just four months after student Samuel Collington was shot to death outside his off-campus residence. It also occurred within a week of several other shootings near campus.

Lights and cameras serve as deterrents to crime and also help officers solve crimes, Kaiser said. There have been instances when the university has accessed useful footage from the cameras it funded, he said.

“Plus the word spreads that there are all these cameras out there and they are visible,” he said. “The lights are certainly visible. It acts as a deterrent.”

The cameras range from those that are basic and self-installed to more sophisticated contractor-installed systems, depending on a landlord’s preference.

The program started slowly, Kaiser said, as some in the community were skeptical that the university was really going to pay. But then it picked up and has been extended twice, with no end date slated, he said.

Landlords are required to provide proof of purchase and installation, and the university follows up with a visual inspection after the work is completed, said Langston Huzzy, director of administration.

Bradford Montgomery Jones opted in for two properties he manages near Temple on the 1700 block of West Diamond Street. Both properties received the $2,500 maximum and installed both cameras and lights, he said.

The property owners probably wouldn’t have added the equipment without the help from Temple, Jones said.

“With that assistance, it made it much easier for them,” he said.