Lehigh County's only DA candidate is looking for ways to break the cycle of violence

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Gavin Holihan wants voters to know he is not a revolutionary.

The West End resident poised to become Lehigh County’s next district attorney said in an interview this week he has no intention of shaking up the office he’s likely to assume in January. He’s quick to praise longtime incumbent Jim Martin for instituting several modern programs designed to reduce recidivism, including a mental health/substance abuse program. Larry Krasner, Holihan is not.

“When you see drastic changes in the criminal justice system, those are almost always a mistake,” he said. “It’s not really, in my view, a system that’s designed for rapid changes. We should take things slowly and move them in a direction and wait and see if it works. And if it works, keep moving in that direction.”

• Gavin Holihan is poised to become Lehigh County's next district attorney after winning both the Democratic and Republican nominations
• If elected, he hopes to find ways to divert underserved children from entering the criminal justice system as either defendants or victims
• The Allentown resident has spent three decades practicing law in criminal cases, both as a prosecutor and defense attorney

But don’t think Holihan is running to be Lehigh County’s top law enforcement officer without any intention of leaving his mark. After 30 years of working as a prosecutor and defense attorney in the Lehigh Valley, he’s troubled by the pattern of who's most likely to find themselves in court – both as witnesses and defendants.

Much of the violent crime plaguing the Lehigh Valley is coming from the same enclaves in the community, he said. While people think of criminals and victims in different light, he said, statistically they’re often young men and young men color from underserved areas. While there isn’t much data specifically from the Lehigh Valley, information from cities across the country paints the same picture, he said.

“It’s pretty clear the people who commit and the people who become victims of violent crime all come from the same small pool of the population,” Holihan said. “If you can identify that pool and reach them early — earlier than we have been — maybe you can divert them from becoming victims or perpetrators.”

Government employees are already identifying at-risk youths in Lehigh County, he said. Social workers take on cases where children aren’t getting enough to eat, are exposed to domestic violence or drug abuse and who aren’t getting an adequate education. Studies have repeatedly found these kids are at greater risk of winding up in the criminal justice system than their peers. But despite this knowledge, he said, there isn’t enough being done to make a difference for too many of these children.

Holihan, who is currently the first assistant district attorney in Lehigh County, doesn’t have hard answers on how to get those resources or how to apply them at this point. But he can’t help but wonder if Lehigh County is a small enough place that making a difference for a few dozen kids now could dramatically improve the crime rate down the line.

“These things are hard,” he said. “Politicians don’t care if doing something now is it going to make a difference in 10 years because that’s forever in the world of politics.”

But Holihan may not be a typical politician. His bid for DA is his first campaign for public office, and he’s all but assured of election in November. His bipartisan support includes endorsements from Martin, the Republican incumbent, and prominent Democrats such as County Executive Phillips Armstrong and state reps. Michael Schlossberg, and Josh Siegel, both D-Lehigh. Holihan secured both the Republican and Democratic nomination in this month’s primary.

He attributed his quick success on the campaign trail to the reputation he’s built in his 30 years practicing law in the Lehigh Valley. His high-profile cases include his successful prosecution of Henry Holmes, who murdered an Allentown cab driver in 1994, and successfully defending Jonathan Roselle, a South Whitehall Township police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man attacking vehicles outside Dorney Park in 2018. People know he’s interested in the fair pursuit of justice and doesn’t have a partisan bent, he said.

“Lehigh County is more interested in getting the job done than whether you’re an R or a D. If you can get the job done, then that’s fine. If you’re overly political and you can’t get the job done, that doesn’t count for much,” Holihan said.

To do the job right, Holihan is looking to improve community outreach at the district attorney’s office. Aggressively prosecuting violent crime hasn’t deterred future crime, he said. And with gun rights expanding, it’s unlikely a local DA could slow the flow of firearms into the region even if they wanted to.

Instead, it’s going to take a staff that’s not only committed to the community both in and out of the courtroom. That means building ties with underserved communities that don’t always trust law enforcement. From Holihan’s perspective, it will be on the next DA present the authenticity and transparency needed to overcome that divide.

“Is the community ready for outreach? Yes, but the better question is, ‘Are we prepared to do it?’ And the answer is probably, no, not yet. It’s going to take some work on our part,” he said.