A decision by the Pennsylvania Superior Court likely means that drug charges brought two years ago against a Roaring Spring man will be dismissed, but the same
Freehling
Operation Our Town on Thursday presented its top award to recently retired Altoona Police Chief Janice Freehling.
The Community Partnership Award is presented annually to Blair County law enforcement individuals who have demonstrated their commitment toward making the community a safe place to live and raise families.
“I congratulate Chief Freehling for all of your years of service and hours of support to Operation Our Town. She is someone who always had the right response to crimes,” said Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks.
Freehling, Altoona’s first female police chief, retired March 1 after 44 years in law enforcement, the last 20 years as chief.
Human trafficking is everywhere, including in Blair County.
It was the topic of a recent presentation at the Blair County Chamber of Commerce’s Committee on NonProfit Businesses, Best Practices Forum.
Guest speaker Ashley Owens, Children’s Advocacy Center director at Family Services Inc., said it is hard to tell how big the problem is here.
“We have heard from survivors that the Altoona area is a place there has been trafficking because we were not looking for it. Now we are working to spread education and trying to notice red flags to notice situations as trafficking. Blair County, since 2014, has had four arrests for human trafficking including the (Stephen) Apostolu case,” Owens said. “We have been able to identify children who are victims of human trafficking that didn’t reach the court system. We know it is there but are not sure how prevalent it is. No one has come forward saying they are a victim of human trafficking. Human trafficking is not what you see in Ho
ifredregill@altoonamirror.com
Blair County law enforcement agencies reported increased drug activity during the coronavirus pandemic, but in some cases, social distancing restrictions hampered their efforts.
“There were two issues that arose from the pandemic,” said Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks. “We’ve seen more substance abuse, because of the stay-at-home orders and the circumstances brought on by decisions made during the (COVID-19) pandemic.”
The second issue law enforcement encountered was fewer impediments to drug traffickers moving through the community as lockdowns hindered house-to-house investigations, Weeks said.
Several metrics are used to track drug activity within communities, but for clarity and ease of access, the Altoona Mirror requested data from local law enforcement, measuring the number of possession with intent to deliver charges processed from 2018-20.