They have been popping up all over campus, and you have probably seen them.
Five new security kiosks have been added on and around Temple’s campus to guard locations with heavy student traffic. The kiosks are rectangular, white, one-person booths that rest on small trailers so they can be moved when necessary.
The first kiosk was placed at 16th and Berks streets, near Temple’s outdoor track. The second is stationed at 15th and Diamond streets, a few blocks away from the Johnson and Hardwick residence halls. Both were added in late October.
“It gives me more security,” senior Sam Ro said. “Having a car and knowing it’s not going to get broken into.”
Campus Safety Services saw a pattern develop last year as students began to move west of campus to take advantage of new housing opportunities, so the department ordered the first two new kiosks to monitor the area from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Temple Police Sgt. Monica Hankins said the kiosks are, “to help [patrols] out, and pay more attention to the street.”
Three other security kiosks – at Broad and Susquehanna streets, Berks and Warnock streets and 15th and Norris streets – have since been added.
The Broad and Susquehanna streets location addresses student safety at the James S. White residence hall.
It replaced a police vehicle that had been stationed there for three years, and opens another mobile patrol option for Campus Safety.
This kiosk is also manned from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. The kiosk at Berks and Warnock streets guards University Village and also monitors student traffic around Temple’s Regional Rail station.
Deputy Director of Campus Safety Charles Leone said although students have not given any feedback to the department, a few professors who use the Regional Rail have said they are grateful for the added security.
Though there are two older kiosks in the surrounding area that are manned 24 hours a day, the new booth, occupied from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., was needed to monitor students coming from the train station.
The kiosks were stationed as much for security as to offer peace of mind for students living in these areas.
Ashley Helaudais can be reached at ahelaudais@temple.edu.
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