Temple University's Public Safety Executive Director Resigns Amid Growing Crime Around Campus

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Temple University's executive director of public safety is resigning, the school confirmed Thursday. Charles Leone's departure comes amid a streak of violence and rising crime in and around the North Philadelphia campus.

Leone's resignation is effective April 29.

"I came to Temple nearly 40 years ago as a student, and I loved this university so much that I never left," Leone said in a statement. "It is bittersweet for me to leave now, but I know campus safety is in a much stronger position today, and this is the right time for me personally to step aside and enable a new leader to build the department's strategy for the future."

Deputy Director Denise Wilhelm will assume the interim role while a nationwide search for Leone's replacement gets underway.

Months after a Temple University student was shot and killed during a robbery, plus other incidents of gun violence near campus and parents raising the alarm about safety, the college is making some changes to help calm the community.

Temple University leaders met with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney on Wednesday. They came up with new strategies to tackle gun violence and keep the students safe.

Some strategies include a security upgrade grant program for landlords to add cameras and install lighting, increased campus and city patrols -- nearly doubling the number of officers -- a neighborhood watch program to help patrol neighborhoods, and more housing on and near campus will be available to students.

Students tell Eyewitness News they are hopeful that these measures are here to stay.

"Whenever an incident occurs, it seems like there's an increased police force for a couple of days or maybe a weekend and then things kind of die down," a student said. "But I feel like this definitely illustrates a further precaution being taken."

In a rare interview last week, the head of the union representing Temple University police officers says staffing within the department is at a breaking point.

"We do the best we can," Alec Shaffer said.

Shaffer told Eyewitness News Temple police can't "effectively" do their jobs due to its staffing levels.

The department is operating at 60% officer staffing levels and yet, shootings, robberies, and carjackings have persisted, with officers forced to run from one incident to the next. To maintain staffing, Shaffer says overtime rates since July have skyrocketed.

"As a department as a whole, we're at an all-time low in morale," Shaffer said. "Our officers are working day in and day out. We're close to 20,000 hours [of overtime] as police officers working."

Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey will audit the campus safety services. That will begin next month.

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