Criminal Justice

Mayor David Heintzelman said the borough has 'complete confidence' in Interim Chief Dominick Fragano. Officials say they are awaiting the results of a police department assessment by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.

A broken heating system at the Allentown Police Department's 60-year-old headquarters is just one of many reasons the city should push for a new station, according to a six-month feasibility study.

An outdated police manual from 1981, gross approval of overtime and a general lack of leadership by Chief Douglas Kish necessitate change in the Catasauqua Borough Police Department, a study showed.

Newly sworn-in Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta expects it will take him more than a year to fill his roster of prosecutors. In the meantime, his office has to deal with a massive backlog of cases.

An Orefield woman has been charged in a Saturday shooting that left a man injured, city police said.

The Allentown title company owner surrendered to authorities Thursday morning and was arraigned on the newest charges.

The Allentown Police Department secured $4.1 million in grants to buy 67 license-plate readers and several gunshot-detection devices.

Christopher Fitzgerald was shot and killed near the Temple University campus in Philadelphia while working as a university police officer in February 2023.

City officials say the technology will be "life-changing," while critics have called the system "reactionary" and an expansion of the "surveillance state."

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has filed an emergency motion in Lehigh County Court requesting that a judge unseal documents in at least 22 criminal cases tied to an interstate drug ring. Among the defendants is Lehigh County Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi.

After his ousting in August 2023, Nadeem Shahzad pledged to sue the city for terminating him without cause.

Alfeni Romero-Taveras, 22, of Allentown, was charged Friday in the June 1, 2024, death of Angel Martinez-Velez on a basketball court at Fountain Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Two men face felony charges for stealing nearly $100,000 from Lowe's stores across the state. Investigators say the men used self-checkout kiosks to make purchases with their cell phones using information stolen from Lowe's customer accounts.

Police responded to a report of an armed person at Innovative Arts Academy in Catasauqua on Tuesday afternoon. An investigation is ongoing.

Pennsylvania State Police said the incident began when they tried to serve an arrest warrant on a 62-year-old man in the parking lot of the Super 8 at 1033 Airport Road on Sunday morning.

Jeani Garcia, who took the helm at Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley this year, was recently named to serve on the executive committee for the state’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Former Allentown police officer Jason Krasley was charged with stealing more than $5,000 in May 2019 as he and other Vice and Intelligence Unit officers searched a barbershop. Separately, Krasley still faces several other charges, including rape, sexual assault and prostitution.

Authorities allege Adam Makowka, 28, of South Whitehall Township, fatally shot Jereka Battle in her Allentown apartment in July.

"Behind Closed Doors: Opening Conversations That Matter" brought panelists to the Northampton County Courthouse to discuss domestic violence and the role the law plays.

A Lehigh County detective Monday explained his process for obtaining a cell phone from Francis Anonia, Parkland School District's former performing arts administrator charged with secretly recording a student changing clothes. Anonia's lawyer asked a judge to throw out key evidence in the case.

Christian Martinez-Ramos, 36, was sentenced Monday to 30 to 60 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to murder and conspiracy to commit murder, according to authorities.