Violent crime has dropped significantly in Manteca in 2013.

Vehicle theft is down. You’re also less likely to come out and see that your car has been broken into. And while other property crimes have seen a slight uptick, the number of total felonies committed across the board – as well as the total number of burglaries – dropped last year.

According to the Manteca Police Department’s year-end crime statistics, all of the major violent crime categories – homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – posted significant drops. Nobody was a victim of a homicide  inside of Manteca’s city limits in 2013, the second year in a row that category has gone blank. 

Manteca currently has 63 sworn officers to protect a community that, at of the 2010 census, had just under 70,000 residents.

Here are some other statistics from the year-end report:

• Manteca police issued 74 percent less seatbelt tickets in 2013 than they did in the previous year. The number dropped from 349 to only 91, and was attributed at least in part to periodic DUI/Seatbelt checkpoints funded through the California Office of Traffic Safety. There were 20 percent less DWI accidents reported – down to 51 from 64 the previous year – and a 21 percent dip in injury accidents. Of the 736 total accidents in 2013, only 147 of them involved injuries.

• Nearly as many people were arrested in 2013 as they were in 2012. According to the report, 2,596 people were taken into custody over the last 12 months compared to 2,585 in all of 2012.

• The total number of police pursuits dropped from 23 in 2012 to only 16 in 2013. Reported uses of force by officers, however, increased from 27 in 2012 to 41 in 2013 – an increase of more than 50 percent.

• More than $4.59 million worth of property was stolen in 2012, and more than $4.83 million worth of property was stolen in 2013 – a 5 percent increase. The amount recovered during that time frame, however, increased significantly. Detectives recovered only $1.52 million in 2012 compared to $1.98 million in 2013, which represented more than 41 percent of all property taken during that calendar year.

• The number of written reports increased from 7,420 in 2012 to 7,531 in 2013. A total of 1,258 warrants were served – compared to 1,186 the year before – and the number of service requests increased from 33,348 to 34,357.

• Alcohol and narcotic-related offenses both increased over the last year. A total of 506 alcohol-related offenses were documented, compared with 453 the year before, while 290 in 2013 represented a slight increase from the 283 the year before. Manteca’s street crime officers conducted several high-profile drug busts and raids during the year that took marijuana growing and production operations out of commission, derailed a methamphetamine distribution ring and networked with San Joaquin County’s narcotics enforcement community.

Monthly crime stats are published by the department on the City of Manteca’s website. The year-end report was delivered on Tuesday night by Police Chief Nick Obligacion to the Manteca City Council to showcase the advances that have been made since he took over the reins of the department two years ago.