Temple taps Philadelphia deputy police commissioner as new public safety VP
Joel Dales, 58, a Philadelphia native whose father was a police officer in North Philadelphia and who joined the department in 1990, will take over on Dec. 7.
Temple University has hired a Philadelphia City deputy police commissioner with more than three decades of policing experience as its new vice president of public safety.
Joel Dales, 58, a Philadelphia native whose father was a police officer in North Philadelphia, will take over the on Dec. 7.
He replaces Jennifer Griffin, a former Delaware State Police officer and captain, who left the university in June after four years on the job. Denise Wilhelm has been serving as interim vice president since July and will continue as executive deputy director.
The move comes as Temple, which serves 29,156 students on its domestic campuses, strives to work even more closely with city police and curb problems still resulting from large groups of young people meeting up on or near the campus and causing disruption. The university also is amid a push to hire more officers even as shortages persist nationally, university President John Fry has pledged to boost police patrol officers by 58% over five years. The school had 76 sworn officers when Griffin departed in June.
“His leadership in the Philadelphia Police Department ... is just something that we’re really going to benefit from at Temple,” said Fry said in an interview Friday. “His significant urban policing experience makes him in my mind the ideal candidate.”
Fry said Dales was recommended by the two people he respects the most in policing: Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel and former commissioner Charles Ramsey, who was an advisor to the search committee and whose firm authored and released a safety audit of Temple police in 2023. He anticipates Dales’ leadership will be important in helping the university attract more officers.
Dales’ insights on how to manage large disruptive groups of youths while maintaining an open welcoming campus “gave me a huge degree of comfort,” Fry said.
Dales in an interview Friday said he wants to see what the Temple department has in place and will make adjustments if necessary.
“It’s very important for Temple PD and the Philadelphia Police Department to continue to work together as a team to focus on addressing these issues because these meetups are popping up all over the city,” said Dales, who has a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Eastern University and a master’s degree in public safety management from St. Joseph’s University.
At the city police department, Dales oversees the office of professional responsibility, which includes the internal affairs bureau and the internal criminal investigation division, as well as the professional standards bureau. Dales in 2023 was among the candidates considered by Mayor Cherelle Parker for the commissioner’s job before Bethel was hired.
He joined the department in 1990, rising through the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant, captain, staff inspector and chief inspector before becoming a deputy commissioner in 2020.
“Temple University is gaining a leader who understands the complexities of policing, the importance of building relationships, and the responsibility that comes with protecting a diverse and vibrant community,” Bethel said in a statement.
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Dales said he has seen firsthand the important work Temple police do, and he was attracted to Fry’s vision for the university and the importance he places on safety. Fry cited public safety as a top priority from time he started at Temple in 2024, and Dales noted the recent contract settlement with the officers union which significantly boosted salaries in an attempt to help recruit more officers.
“When you have support from the top, that makes a huge difference in any organization,” Dales said.
Dales will focus on relationship-building and trust, he said, and already is well established in those areas in Philadelphia.
“Over the course of my career..., I’ve built strong relationships with multiple law enforcement agencies such as SEPTA police, the Philadelphia Housing Authority Police Department, local government agencies,” he said. “Those relationships I will bring with me to help work together on safety concerns that affect Temple and also the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Dales said his father inspired him to become a police officer and told him the importance of involving the community in the work. He recalled riding in the police car with his father and his partner on bring-your-child-to-work-day.
“The love and respect I saw from the community that my father and his partner received, I was like, wow, that’s what I want to do,” he said. “I want to be a police officer...I want to receive that respect and love from the community.
“If you want to have effective policing, it requires balancing enforcement and service with the community. That’s the lesson I’ve carried with me throughout my entire career.”
Staff writer Ellie Rushing contributed to this report.
