Criminal Justice

The Community Connections Partnership joins social workers from the city's Health Bureau with police officers to connect people who need help with social services. The police chief says the program has been successful, but the idea is not universally popular.

After 65 years, the Philadelphia Police Department has finally identified the victim in the city’s oldest unsolved homicide case as 4-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli, of West Philadelphia.

An anonymous donor gifted Northampton County's Department of Corrections a 2-year-old Labrador to assist with examining seized property.

"Deana's Law" will add harsh penalties for drunken and impaired drivers who repeatedly violate the law in Pennsylvania.

Lehigh County commissioners are evaluating a proposal that would create a new program for individuals recently released from prison by engaging them before release and following them to ensure they stay employed and do not reoffend.

A driver was pulled over shortly after noon Monday, and ran into the woods before being arrested along I-78, police said.

Grubhub will now disclose the app has higher prices than restaurants, in order to be more transparent. They will also make a donation to Pennsylvania food banks, instead of paying damages.

During the 2021 Thanksgiving enforcement period, Pennsylvania State Police Troop M was very active.

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has corrected a decades-old flaw in state law that left severely mentally ill people behind bars indefinitely, and highlighted lingering problems for the man at the center of the case, and others like him.

A Black university student was victimized by white assailants who directed racial epithets at the student, according to a statement from the Lehigh University president.

WLVR’s Tyler Pratt recently spoke with Norberto, who is now home. He said the conditions and isolation at the jail in lockdown were dramatically worse than any of his previous experiences.

Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman is calling for reform to jail sentences of life without parole.

COVID-19 cases at Northampton and Lehigh County jails are dwindling after months of concern about high case numbers. But lockdowns will remain in place.

A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court case is being called the first of its kind, challenging the fate of inmates serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Concerned residents held a vigil outside the Lehigh County Jail in Allentown over the weekend with signs and candles to remember an inmate and correctional officer who recently died from COVID-19 and to raise awareness of what they say are dangerous conditions inside.

Lehigh Valley community members say the situation inside the Lehigh County Jail is bleak. Activists say COVID-19 conditions are causing harm to inmates and employees. And they plan to make their voices heard this weekend.

State courts told correctional institutions last year to reduce the number of inmates to help fight the spread of COVID-19 inside.

At a public forum with several Lehigh County Commissioners on Jan. 28, they called their working conditions “life-threatening.”

Lehigh County’s fiscal watchdog is advocating for bail reform.

A Harrisburg woman charged in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has been released from custody with restrictions.

A retired Pennsylvania firefighter has been arrested on suspicion of throwing a fire extinguisher that hit three police officers during the siege at the U.S. Capitol.

A yearlong study conducted by the state Department of Aging, found seniors are conned out of ten million dollars a year in Pennsylvania. And as WLVR’s Megan Frank reports, in many cases the scams come from people they know.