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Manteca felonies down by 10.8% during January
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Every category of felonies in Manteca — except unlawful intercourse or rape and vehicle theft — dropped 10.8 percent in year-to-year comparisons for January.

At the same time overall burglaries have gone from 92 in January 2019 to 61 in January 2018 for a 33.7 percent drop.  Misdemeanors are also down by 8.33 percent.

The glimpse of crime in Manteca provided in the January report of the Manteca Police Department looks promising although one-month is too short of a period to determine trends. But it does reflect a break in 11 straight months of numeric crime increases in month-to-month comparisons with previous years.

Based on crime per 1,000 residents, 2018 saw an increase in criminal activity in Manteca. There were 864 burglaries or 10.6 burglaries per 1,000 residents and 2,167 or 26.7 felonies per thousand residents. The 2017 numbers were 807 burglaries or 10.2 burglaries per 1,000 residents, and1, 969 felonies or 24.9 felonies per 1,000 residents.

The crime per 1,000 takes into account population growth to put numeric increases or decreases into perspective for an apple to apple comparison in terms of overall burglaries and felonies. It is the matrix the FBI uses to determine crime rates and the relative safety of communities.

On a per 1,000 basis the 2018 crime level was a virtual carbon copy of 2015.

Crime in Manteca peaked in 2011 when the city had 69,246 residents compared to 81,450 residents in 2018. That year there were 15.7 burglaries and 30.2 felonies per 1,000 residents.

The crime rate dropped steadily until 2016 when it went up before dropping back down in 2017 and then inching up last year.

Auto theft in January was up 22.73 percent going from 44 to 54. Rape and unlawful intercourse when from 1 to 3 reported cases.

Everything else dropped, The biggest numerical and percentage decreases were robbery going from 8 to 3, auto burglary going from 58 to 36, grand theft going from 18 to 9, and residential burglary going from 16 to 12.


To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com