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District attorney announces local auto‑theft task force, ALPR camera rollout and concerns about juvenile female placements
Summary
District Attorney Baratta said a county auto‑theft task force began July 1, the office is deploying Flock Safety license‑plate readers and integrating case management systems, and he warned of scarce residential treatment options for violent juvenile females.
District Attorney Baratta told the committee on July 16 that his office launched a local auto‑theft task force on July 1 that is partially grant‑funded and that the office is deploying license‑plate reader cameras and upgrading prosecution management systems to improve investigations and case tracking.
Baratta said the auto‑theft task force qualified for a grant that pays for half of a deputy district attorney position and centralizes auto‑theft investigations locally rather than relying on neighboring Lehigh County. He also described plans to install roughly 30 Flock Safety cameras (license‑plate readers) and to integrate commercial and institutional camera feeds to improve rapid vehicle identification in stolen‑vehicle and Amber alert situations. “Those cameras are really amazing with what they can do,” Baratta said.
The DA also described an internal upgrades plan for the office’s prosecutorial management system (PMS) to reduce duplicate data entry and to integrate criminal docket information into the DA office system for better inventory control.
Baratta raised juvenile placement concerns: he said Pennsylvania has few residential treatment facilities for girls, forcing some juveniles to be placed “south” (states such as Georgia, Tennessee or Alabama) where he questioned the quality of care. He urged local consideration of developing higher‑level local treatment capacity so the county would not routinely send violent young women far from families and courts.
Discussion vs. decisions: Baratta described operational changes already under way (auto‑theft task force began July 1; PMS and camera initiatives in progress). He expressed policy priorities (local juvenile treatment capacity) and sought support for technological and staffing investments; the committee did not take votes during his briefing.
Ending: committee members asked follow‑up questions about geographic placement of out‑of‑state residential facilities and encouraged continued coordination on cameras and task‑force staffing.
