Temple Police Address Noise Complaint Response Following Student's Murder
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There are questions into how the Temple University Police Department responded to noise complaints inside the apartment building where authorities say student Jenna Burleigh was brutally murdered.
This, after a witness told a judge she called police twice, after hearing what sounded like a woman being murdered in a horror film, but worse.
Temple University officials categorize the witness's emergency calls as noise complaints - not ones of domestic violence - and say they do not have any directive or policy for how their department handles such calls.
The statement comes after contacting the school several times surrounding the night Jenna Burleigh was killed, and the arrest of suspect Joshua Hupperterz.
School officials go on to say officers "acted in accordance with accepted police practices" but stopped short of saying what those practices were.
But Philadelphia police do have a policy for such calls, which directs officers to investigate further, find the origin of the noise, and if approved by their commanders, kick down doors.
A Temple spokesman says they will not comment further on the matter, and will address questions on how the officers responded to the suspect's apartment building, if they investigated further, or if the school is creating a policy to handle such calls in the future.
A full statement from Temple Police can be read below:
Temple Police respond to hundreds of noise complaint calls each year.
When a complaint about loud noises is received, Temple Police investigate according to each situation's circumstances. There is not a single directive or special order for responding to noise complaints because the circumstances vary widely.
In this instance, police responded to and investigated noise complaints, not a report of domestic violence. As you know, this matter involves active criminal prosecution, so we cannot discuss details related to the case.
However, the actions of responding officers have been reviewed internally, and it has been determined that they acted in accordance with accepted police practice.
PLEASE NOTE: Philadelphia police say they respond to thousands of calls each year.
