Chief ‘Satisfied’ with Security at College Station

By Theresa Katalinas

In a little over a month, 200 college students will call Upper Moreland Township home – at least during the school year.

College Station, the 50-unit, four-bedroom apartment complex under construction on York Road in Willow Grove is expected to wrap up in time for Aug. 24 move-ins, an official told Patch previously.

Some worry what the influx of college students–living parent-free four to an apartment–will mean in terms of security and prevention for underage drinking and other offenses.

Upper Moreland Police Chief Michael Murphy told Patch that he’s met with the owner of College Station and is “satisfied with the level of security they’re going to have.”

Murphy said the police department would respond to the complex, conduct investigations “the way we would any other place” and make arrests as necessary.

The development would not warrant any additional police manpower, he said.

“We’re talking about adults here,” Murphy said. “I don’t anticipate having any additional pull on our resources.” 

College Station’s owner, through Brittany Shull, a leasing and development representative for College Town Communities, declined to comment on specifics related to security.

“We do not openly discuss our facility’s security measures,” Shull wrote in an email. “We don’t want the general public to know all that we do, which in part, adds to our overall security.”

Murphy has talked to a police chief in another area where a similar college apartment complex is located. Based on that discussion, as well as his meeting with the College Station owner, Murphy said he’s confident that the owner will have a “zero tolerance level for inappropriate behavior.”