ALLENTOWN, Pa. — New technologies, an emphasis on community relations and consistent leadership in Allentown Police Department led to historic lows for crime rates and homicides in the city last year, officials said Thursday.
Four homicides were recorded in Allentown in 2024, the lowest since 1989, according to city statistics.
“While those homicides … are four more than we wanted to see, and while any life taken by another is an unspeakable tragedy, the historic lows should be a point of pride for the people who commit themselves to the safety of our residents,” Mayor Matt Tuerk said.
Tuerk credited police for their “hard work to bring people to justice.”
Allentown recorded 17 homicides in 2023, nine in 2022, 13 in 2021 and nine in 2020, according to statistics provided at Thursday’s news conference at the city’s Health Bureau.
Other violent crimes also are down significantly over the past decade, Tuerk said.
“That makes the Lehigh Valley one of the safest large urban areas in the Commonwealth, and it's a tremendous point of pride."Mayor Matt Tuerk
The city recorded 611 Part I crimes — homicide, aggravated assault, sexual assault and robbery — in 2014, a number that dropped to 326 in 2024, he said.
The city has seen a 78% drop in robberies since 2014, while sexual assaults are down 50% when compared with a decade ago, according to the mayor.
Tuerk called Allentown “one of the safest large cities” in Pennsylvania, citing statistics that show only Bethlehem has a lower per-capita violent-crime rate among cities with more than 50,000 residents.
“That makes the Lehigh Valley one of the safest large urban areas in the Commonwealth, and it's a tremendous point of pride," Tuerk said.
'Consistency of leadership'
Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan, who took office a year ago, said his office has worked to improve its “investigative velocity,” which he described as “trying to work as quickly as we can, as smart as possible, to make arrests.”
Making quick arrests stops people from committing more violent crimes and ends the opportunity for retaliation against them, Holihan said.
“If law enforcement can make a quick arrest, we can kind of stop that retaliation because we've done our part, and the street doesn't have to do their part."Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan
“If law enforcement can make a quick arrest, we can kind of stop that retaliation because we've done our part, and the street doesn't have to do their part,” he said Thursday.
Holihan also paid tribute to Allentown police officers and Chief Charles Roca.
Roca, who was given the top job in 2021, has led the department longer than the two previous chiefs combined. Allentown had six police chiefs in the six years before Roca’s promotion.
Tuerk said Thursday he is “incredibly grateful as mayor to be able to count on … Roca’s leadership.
“It is the consistency of leadership that leads to these results,” Tuerk said, crediting Roca for “instilling a culture of excellence” in the Allentown Police Department.
'Not done in a silo': Police chief
Roca deflected much of the praise to “dedicated police officers that provide exceptional service to our community every day.”
He also credited state police and local nonprofit groups such as Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, the Ortiz Ark Foundation and Cohesion for making it easier for some residents to report crimes and seek help.
“When we have community members stepping up and providing information ... it helps tremendously."Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca
“Policing is not done in a silo but collaboratively with the community,” Roca said.
“When we have community members stepping up and providing information ... it helps tremendously."
New technologies such as the Flock Safety gunshot-detection system and license-plate readers also fueled that trend in 2024, according to the police chief.
Those have helped police increase their clearance rates for homicides and other crimes, he said.
Roca suggested officials will explore acquiring radar technology to reduce speeding in the city.
