{"id":265216,"date":"2026-08-14T10:14:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/265216\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:14:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:14:07","slug":"as-pa-crime-rates-falls-law-enforcement-flags-ongoing-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/265216\/","title":{"rendered":"As Pa. crime rates falls, law enforcement flags ongoing challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Violent crime rates are down across the nation and commonwealth, and 2026 numbers appear to be even\u00a0<\/a>lower<\/a> so far. Homicides alone fell by 23%<\/a> between 2023 and 2024, which is near historic lows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good news in the data, and some warning signs as well that we need to be vigilant about,\u201d said state Attorney General Dave Sunday. \u201cIn many cases, (the crime rate) actually is at or below 2019 levels, getting us back to the levels that we saw prior to the pandemic-era surge in violent crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday, speaking at a bicameral Republican policy committee meeting in Hazleton, cautioned that drug offenses are still increasing, noting the state had seized more than 56 million doses of fentanyl in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat amount of fentanyl is staggering. It\u2019s enough to kill four times the population of Pennsylvania, and obviously that\u2019s unbelievably dangerous,\u201d Sunday said.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s wide-ranging meeting touched on some of the biggest criminal justice topics in Harrisburg, namely sentencing for felony murder and regulating skill games. But lawmakers and Hazleton leaders also wrestled with more local issues, including caring for an aging county prison population in a deteriorating facility and navigating services for homeless Pennsylvanians.<\/p>\n

The core function of government is to keep its citizens safe,\u201d shared Rep. David Rowe (R-Union) in his opening remarks. \u201cOur communities deserve to feel safe, and we need to acknowledge that there is a lot of work to be done across Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce attributed falling overdose rates in his community to \u201cthe closure of our borders,\u201d actions he said made it difficult for drug traffickers from other countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we are not now drug free. We are finding that fentanyl is being replaced with methamphetamine, a more homegrown drug. Thankfully, it doesn\u2019t kill people with the regularity that fentanyl does,\u201d Sanguedolce said, adding that it was still a burden on local law enforcement and emergency responders.<\/p>\n

Nearly all fentanyl smuggled into the country is brought by U.S. citizens, not immigrants<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other crime trends<\/p>\n

Sunday highlighted several trends his office was monitoring, including large-scale retail thefts \u201ccoordinated by larger criminal enterprises\u201d with links to human and drug trafficking. He said the agency had identified more than 100 investigations across 52 counties, meaning, \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a big city issue. This is all throughout Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new unit dedicated to combatting elder exploitation<\/a> \u201cis actually already overwhelmed with cases,\u201d Sunday continued. \u201cBut that\u2019s what we\u2019re here for and we\u2019re proud of doing that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m watching this play out sort of in real time. I have aging parents that are in their early 80s, and seeing the \u2026 increase in technology, the sophistication of the scams, it\u2019s something that\u2019s really scary,\u201d Sunday added.<\/p>\n

Sanguedolce said one example might include a call reporting that a son-in-law is in police custody and needs money immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes back to the days of the 1-800 commercials, the infomercials. \u2018Act now,\u2019 right? They create a sense of urgency. Some emergency must happen. You must act now,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

With a large senior population, Sunday said Pennsylvania was \u201ca target\u201d for senior scams and fraud. In response, he advocated for state Senate Bill 738<\/a>, described as an update to the commonwealth\u2019s Older Adult Protective Services Act. The bipartisan measure would allow<\/a> employees at financial institutions to place holds on withdrawal requests they suspect are related to fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat pause is absolutely critical, allowing a potential victim to realize that they are being defrauded of their money, and this is so important because in most instances, once that money is gone, it is gone,\u201d Sunday said.<\/p>\n

Schuylkill County District Attorney Michael O\u2019Pake, who\u2019s the vice president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, pushed for an amendment to the Senate proposal that established mandated reporting requirements for elder abuse and neglect.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most rewarding and often most challenging responsibilities that we face as district attorneys is dealing with victims of crimes. Victims of crimes have their lives disrupted, through no fault of their own,\u201d said O\u2019Pake, speaking generally.<\/p>\n

However, the federal funding under the Victims of Crimes Act has fallen over several budget years<\/a>. With that reduction in mind, O\u2019Pake called for lawmakers \u201cto keep victims in mind when you are doing the budget and you are setting forth priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Pate also called for continued funding for child advocacy centers, concluding with an ask to outlaw swatting, which is when someone makes a fake call to 911 to trigger a police raid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese hoaxes put people\u2019s lives at risk and waste valuable public safety resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more from our partners, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Violent crime rates are down across the nation and commonwealth, and 2026 numbers appear to be even\u00a0lower so…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-265216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}