The following information is provided as a courtesy by the Whitehall Bureau of Police. If you have any questions regarding the following information contact numbers of agencies to better assist you are provided.

The Crime Victims Act (18 Pa.C.S. 11.201 et. seq) provides victims of crime in Pennsylvania with certain rights.


Victims Responsibilities

In order for you to receive information and/or notice concerning your case, you must provide a valid address and telephone number to the requesting agency. You are also responsible for providing timely notice of any changes in that information. The information you provide is confidential and may not be disclosed to any person other than a representative of a law enforcement agency, prosecutor's office or corrections agency without your written prior consent. The victim's responsibility falls to the parent or legal guardian for child victims and to a surviving family member in the case of a homicide.


Victims of all crimes have the right:

• To be notified of basic information on available services.
• To be notified of certain significant actions within the criminal and juvenile justice systems pertaining to your case, including the granting or denial of bail to an adult offender, the detention or release of a juvenile, the filing of a petition alleging delinquency, and the escape and subsequent apprehension of an adult prior to trial or a juvenile prior to adjudication.
• To be accompanied to criminal and juvenile proceedings by a family member, a victim advocate or other support person.
• To give prior comment on the sentencing decision regarding an adult offender or the disposition of a delinquent child and upon request, to receive help in preparing oral and written victim impact statements that will be considered by the courts.
• To collect restitution and to receive assistance with applying for crime victims compensation.
• To be notified of an adult offender's transfer from a state prison to a mental health facility and the discharge, transfer or escape of the adult offender from that facility.
• To receive immediate notice of the release of an adult offender on bail who is incarcerated in a local prison for a violation of a Protection From Abuse (PFA) order or for a personal injury crime committed against the victim protected by the PFA.
• To have property returned that was seized as evidence but is no longer needed for prosecution, and
• To have notice and to provide prior comment on a judicial recommendation that the defendant participate in a motivational boot camp.

Victims of personal injury crimes have the additional right to:

• To receive notice of the arrest of a suspect or he filing or forwarding of a complaint relating to the crime, including notification in 2 hours or less of a complaint alleging delinquency of a juvenile.
• Upon request, to receive notice when an adult offender is released from incarceration at sentencing.
• To receive notice of the opportunity to give post-sentencing decisions involving a release from a state prison, such as work release, furlough or parole.
• To receive notice of and provide prior comment on recommendations sought by the Department of Corrections that offenders participate in a motivational boot camp.
• To receive notice of the release of an adult offender from a local correctional facility including work release, furlough, parole, release from boot camp or community treatment center placement and, upon request of the victim, to receive prior of the release of a juvenile offender from residential placement, a shelter or detention.
• To receive immediate notice of the filing, hearing or disposition of appeals.
• To receive notice of the commitment to a mental health institution from a state or local correctional institution.

Victims of juvenile crime have the additional right:

• To receive prior notice of delinquency hearings and notification of hearings about transfer of a juvenile to and from criminal proceedings.
• To receive notice of the details of the final disposition of a juveniles case.

Victims of personal injury / burglary crimes have the additional right:

• To give prior comment on the potential reduction or dropping of charges or any changes of a plea in a criminal or delinquency proceeding, diversion of a case, including an informal adjustment or consent decree.

Victims of personal injury juvenile crime have the additional right, upon their request:

• To receive notice prior of the release of a juvenile from residential placement, a shelter facility, or a detention center.
• To have the opportunity to submit a written objection prior to the transfer or release from a placement facility of a juvenile who has been adjudicated delinquent when such action is contrary to a previous court order or placement plan approved at a disposition review hearing.
• To be given immediate notice of a juveniles escape from residential placement, a shelter facility or a detention center and subsequent apprehension.
• To submit written comment and oral testimony at a disposition review hearing.
• To receive notice of the court's termination of supervision of the juvenile.

For additional information on the rights listed above, or if you have any questions, please contact the Victim/Witness Assistance Program or the Juvenile Court Victim/Witness Assistance Program.