Back in the 1950s there was a popular television show, based on a long running radio series, called “Mr. District Attorney.” In the space of a half hour David Brian a jut-jawed actor solved a crime in time for plenty of cigarette commercials.
Lehigh County’s District Attorney Jim Martin however is the real thing, without the commercials. The longest serving district attorney in Lehigh County’s history, spoke on September 21st to the Allentown Rotary Club about his job and the tools he uses and the people he works with to bring to justice lawbreakers. He is pictured here shaking hands after his talk with Attorney Don Wieand (on the right).Serious, but not without a touch of humor, “I don’t need a microphone,” he says in a resonate voice, “its my wife who tells me that,” Martin gave the members a chance to look into his world using the most modern methods to fight crime.
Martin currently manages a budget of over 10 million dollars that includes $5 million in grant money and or revenue and supervises more than 80 people.
They include attorneys; administrative staff; a victim/witness unit; county detectives; homicide, drug, and auto theft/ insurance fraud tacks forces; The Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center and the Officer David M. Petzold Digital Forensics Laboratory of Lehigh County located on the campus of De Sales University.
The statistics that Martin and his staff have compiled are mind-blowing. In 2015 and 2016 alone for example
the auto theft and insurance fraud task force recovered over 300 stolen vehicles at a value of $2, 890.000. The Central Booking Center processes over 25,000 individuals in a two year period. Martin is particularly proud of the Petzold digital forensics laboratory that has analyzed over 3,000 pieces of evidence since its inception in 2011.
Martin noted that in our electronic age it is possible to follow the law breakers in many different ways.
Data bases create a real time crime stopping center enabling his office and the Allentown Police Force, whose skill Martin praises highly, to follow a car that one law breaker had used that belonged to his girlfriend who knew him only by the alias “Slime”. Martin also mentioned how cell phones can be used to be traced for information to track criminals.
All in all, it was a fascinating and enlightening talk from Lehigh County’s 21st century “Mr. District Attorney.”
