DA: LANCASTER CITY POLICE OFFICER’S USE OF FORCE ON SEPT. 13 WAS JUSTIFIED
District Attorney Heather Adams determined that the officer was clearly justified in firing four shots at Ricardo Munoz, as Munoz chased him with a large knife – clearly presenting a threat to the officer’s life. Read about the investigation HERE.
Our Mission
The Lancaster County Office of the District Attorney is dedicated to achieving justice and protecting the safety of our community. We thoroughly investigate, and prosecute aggressively, but fairly, criminal activity in Lancaster County. We zealously work to bring justice and preserve the rights of crime victims. Our goal is to keep Lancaster County safe by working in acquiesce with the many law-enforcement departments within the county.
Welcome from DA Heather Adams
Welcome to our virtual newsroom on the CRIMEWATCH Network. This site is designed to build collaboration between criminal justice groups and the community. Please use this information responsibly.
Heather Adams, District Attorney
SPECIAL REPORT: New ‘Part of the Job’ for Police in Lancaster County – Saving Lives with Narcan
Protecting and serving the public are ever-evolving assignments for police officers trained to adapt with trending behaviors and perpetrator habits.
The outbreak of opioid addiction has prompted police officers across Lancaster County – and elsewhere – to spring into action when a dispatch leads to an individual who has overdosed.
5 Graduates will have Charges Reduced or Expunged through Mental Health Court
Five individuals battling mental illness found support and a path to recovery in a Lancaster County specialty court after being charged with crimes.
Four women and a man graduated Wednesday from Mental Health Court, earning certificates and reductions or expungements of their criminal charges.
They each entered the four-phase program after establishing their mental-health struggles played roles in their offenses.
C.A.S.E. Unveils New Website, Window Display at Lancaster County Building
Lancaster County Campaign Against Sexual Exploitation of Children (CASE) recently launched a new look online while also unveiling a revamped window display at the front of Lancaster County’s Government Center.
The window display fits CASE’s mission of raising public awareness about how often children become victims of sexual abuse and what can be done to protect our youth.
One windowpane reads:
Drug Task Force: How does Fentanyl Get Here? Why is Meth so Cheap? What are Students Seeing?
The drug trafficking landscape is always evolving, as many drug dealers respond like legitimate entrepreneurs to supply and demand trends to maximize their profits.
The Lancaster County Drug Task Force tracks that changing climate while also paying attention to what persons facing addiction are using and seeking out on the streets.
Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman announced Thursday recent happenings in the unsolved murder of Lindy Sue Biechler, found killed in her Manor Township home in 1975.
Biechler was 19 when she was stabbed to death in her Kloss Drive apartment. She was stabbed multiple times on Dec. 5, 1975, after returning to her home from a grocery store.
4 Takeaways: What Police, Schools and Community can do to Minimize Risk of Student Violence
A group of Lancaster County School Resource Officers and school administrators recently gathered to discuss threat assessment, what prompts students to perpetrate targeted violence, and how to reach students who might be in turmoil.
Deb McCoy, a Student Assistance Program Coordinator for CompassMark, led the conference at CompassMark’s new facility on Santa Barbara Drive.
McCoy presented reports from federal agencies that incorporated prior acts of targeted violence.
1 in 5 Lancaster Co. Cases Enter Diversion Programs for Expungement, Reductions
An editorial from the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office:
A prosecutor’s mission is to protect the community, and that protection duty extends to providing offenders the means and opportunity to rehabilitate and move past their crime(s).
In many instances, that opportunity comes in the form of a diversion program: a second chance prosecution path that involves a tailor-designed set of requirements for the offender.
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