LEHIGH COUNTY, Pa. – Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan says social programs directly funded by his office are helping to reduce crime.
From 2021 to 2024, he says Lehigh County saw a 69% drop in homicides.
He attributes that achievement to programs like drug rehabilitation, youth sports, and job training for people reentering society after prison.
He says he learned these programs work by watching what other cities did with the money they got from the federal government during the pandemic.
“I’m stealing these ideas from the cities and the communities that did well with that ARPA funding, and have absolutely identifiable results,” Holihan said.
“The number of four homicides in the city from 2024, in the city of Allentown, is the lowest number of homicides since, I think they said 1989.”