Criminal Justice

That funding adds to a recent $984,000 contract for “citywide surveillance” and a $1.5 million program for gunshot-detection technology and license-plate readers.

Pennsylvania State Police say Jared Gerhard, 30, touched a 17-year-old girl inside a Lower Macungie Township Marshall's Friday while she was shopping with her family.

The 53-year-old cycling champion, who spent a year on probation after pleading guilty in February 2023 in a previous stalking and harassment case, is now charged in a case investigated by the Bethlehem Police Department.

Catherine Henry, a senior litigator in the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, has been nominated by President Joe Biden to fill the vacancy left by the death of U.S. District Court Judge Edward Smith.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is poised to sign a bill that requires Pennsylvania State Police and many other law enforcement agencies to collect data on drivers pulled over during traffic stops, including their race or ethnicity.

Problems with theft in the mail collection bins outside the post office go back at least four years. Last year police warned folks to stop using the bins and deposit mail inside the post office. The bins remained open — and the stolen checks and mail have persisted.

Joshua Moser, 33, is being held without bail in Monroe County after he was arrested there for a parole violation, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office.

Palmer Township police Officer John Smoke, the school resource officer at Easton Area High School, waived his preliminary hearing in Palmer Township on Friday.

Reporters Ryan Gaylor and Brittany Sweeney talk about a Bethlehem school resource officer arraigned on multiple sex crimes and a merger between LVHN and Jefferson University Hospital.

Rose Josephine Hnath, 78, was found dead in her North Whitehall Township home in January 1989. She had been repeatedly stabbed and beaten, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said.

A man who authorities said scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion where he set a fire had planned to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a hammer if he found him, according to court documents released Monday.

Hanover Township Elementary School Principal Erin Hines was arrested after crashing into three parked cars at the Stefko Shopping Center on Saturday, March 29, Bethlehem police said.

Rasheed Quayle Tisdale faced a preliminary hearing Thursday on one count each of homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide in the death of Legious Minder, 46.

David Isaiah Rivera, 26, and Pedro Junior Paulino, 35, both of Allentown, face charges of homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, according to court records.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport knew a former police officer was the subject of an internal investigation at his former job but hired him anyway, according to details released this week by Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is looking into the matter.

Jason Moorehead was awarded $131,500 for damages after he brought a lawsuit against the school district and its officials for violating his First Amendment rights.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, a national initiative occurring annually to encourage safe driving. It will take on added significance in Pennsylvania this year.

Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health, introduced two weapon-detecting K-9s on Monday at its Cedar Crest campus. The 18-month-old male Labrador retriever and female Springer Spaniel will visit all LVHN properties in an effort to increase safety.

Jason Krasley, 48, was released Thursday on unsecured $100,000 bail in each case, which means he did not have to post any money, court records show.

Johansy Suarez-Rivas was pronounced dead at a St. Luke's Hospital in 2021 from fentanyl toxicity. Both parents have now plead guilty to charges associated with the case, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced Thursday.

Impaired driving is among the most persistent threats to road safety in the Lehigh Valley, according to two of the region's chief prosecutors. Lehigh County recorded about 1,750 impaired-driving cases in 2024, up almost 42% over the past five years.

Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant, allocated based on BPD data recorded in the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System, would allow her department to expand surveillance and protect everyone using city roadways.