Temple police union calls for public safety VP’s resignation after three officers are fired

The Temple University police union has called for the resignation of the vice president of public safety after three female officers were fired in the span of 48 hours.

The call from the Temple University Police Association for the resignation of Jennifer Griffin, who has been on the job for less than a year, is indicative of an ongoing rocky relationship between the union and the administration that has been inflamed by an increase in crime near campus, including the killing of an on-duty Temple police officer in February.

“We believe that her actions and decisions have resulted in a failure to adequately protect and support both the Temple University community and the police officers serving within it,” said union president Alec Shaffer and recording secretary Ross Shaffer in the statement posted on Twitter.

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The university declined to say why the officers were fired, noting that it does not release details on personnel matters.

“However, we have work rules that all police officers are aware of and required to follow,” the university said in a statement. “Those rules embody core values of law enforcement and we take violations of these values and rules extremely seriously.”

Griffin, a former police captain who started at Temple in August, said she could not comment. The university appointed Griffin, who has a doctorate in sociology and worked for the Delaware State Police for 23 years, to the newly created position as gun violence surged in the city.

» READ MORE: Temple should lead a collective effort to make North Philly safer, says long-awaited report

Her hiring also came as university officials were becoming increasingly concerned about violence near campus. That included the death of student Samuel Collington, who was fatally shot in the chest in November 2021 during a carjacking on the 2200 block of North Park Avenue, near campus. Some parents had even decided to hire their own private security firm to watch over their children and formed a group to push for greater safety efforts.

Following Collington’s death, Temple announced it would increase the size of its police force by 50%. But last February when former Temple Police Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald was shot and killed, the university acknowledged that the number of officers had actually decreased, noting a nationwide shortage of police.

A safety audit of Temple police by former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, released in April, noted the need for more officers. It suggested hiring incentives to lure officers from other police departments and tuition forgiveness for university students who agree to work for a time as Temple police officers after graduation.

The department had 79 patrol officers in April when the report was released. The union had been calling for 40 more officers; Griffin said in April more officers are needed, but so is a sound strategy for deployment and a comprehensive study to determine how many.

In its statement, the union said the decision to “unjustly terminate” the officers has “undermined the morale and trust within the police force” and has “raised serious questions about fair treatment, discrimination and due process for officers.”

It also, they said, undermines “the overall effectiveness of the police force.”