Crime in virtually every felony and misdemeanor category was down sharply in January in same month comparisons with January 2020.

Among the biggest drops were:
*50 percent decline in commercial burglaries going from 12 to 6.

*50 percent decline in robberies going from 12 to 6 as well.

*40 percent decline in residential burglaries going from 10 to 6.

*38.24 percent decline in grand theft going from 34 to 21.

*36.67 percent decline in auto burglaries going from 30 to 19.

*33.33 percent decline in aggravated assaults going from 12 to 8.

*32.15 percent decline in vehicle thefts going from 28 to 19.

Overall Part One Crimes — 12 felonies that the FBI tracks to rate the relative safety of communities — were down 33.89 percent from 180 to 119.

By contrast Ripon in year-to-year January comparisons of Part One Crimes doubled going from 20 to 40. That said Ripon experienced a third of the number of felonies Manteca did in January. Ripon has roughly one fifth the population of Manteca.

It is the first time in recent memory, if ever, that felony crime rates increased in Ripon significantly while decreasing in Manteca. A one-month snapshot doesn’t necessarily translate into a trend.

Part One crimes were down 16 percent in Ripon last year. The same category of crimes dropped 24.77 percent in Manteca during 2020.

Of the 16 categories of crime between felonies and misdemeanors, Manteca crime in year-to-year comparisons in January dropped in 12 classifications.

Domestic violence cases were up 21.74 percent going from 23 to 28 and narcotic offenses were up 13.33 percent going from 15 to 17. There was no change in unlawful intercourse/rape as one occurred in January both this year and 2020. The other category was homicide. There were no homicides in the first month of either year.

The overall value of stolen property was down as well in year-to-year comparisons going from $551,703 to $259,492. Of that amount stolen in January of this year, 45.9 percent or $119,130 worth of property has been recovered.

Crime in Manteca numerically dropped for the second straight year in 2020. They dropped in nine categories last year with residential burglaries leading the way plunging 32.7 percent from 110 in 2019 to 74.  

There has not been a year in Manteca since at least 1998 that there have been less than 100 residential burglaries in Manteca. The peak year for residential burglaries was 2008 with 323.

The numbers are based on Manteca Police crime statistics released this week. The numbers reflect crimes police handled and those crimes reported to the department.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com