Misdemeanor thefts —the stealing of items valued less than $950 — are soaring in Manteca.
Manteca Police Department statistics show that for the first two months of 2018 there have been 171 misdemeanor thefts reported in Manteca. That compares to 122 in January and February of 2017. The jump represents an increase in misdemeanor thefts of 40.16 percent.
At the same time other misdemeanor crimes not involving theft were up 45.87 percent in the first two months of the year going from 242 to 352. That number may reflect a more assertive police effort to cite the homeless and panhandlers who are violating quality of life laws that apply to everyone. Misdemeanors are handled by citation.
Overall, misdemeanor crime is up 43.96 percent in Manteca compared to the first two months of 2017. They went from 365 incidents in 2017 to 524 this year.
While two months may not be reflect as to where Manteca is headed for the year, they are ominous numbers given misdemeanor thefts had been on the downward trend for a number of years in the city.
Overall misdemeanors were down 9.28 percent last year dropping to 3,000 from 3,112 in 2016 and 3,307 in 2015. Misdemeanor thefts fell 37.66 percent to 793. That had dropped 14.29 percent going from 1,113 offenses in 2015 to 1,272 in 2016.
Overall felonies are also tracking upward in the first two months of the year jumping 18.96 percent going from 327 in 2017 to 389 last year.
Overall burglaries are up 18.83 percent going from 154 to 183.
The biggest increase is commercial burglaries with a 117.65 percent jump going from 17 to 37. The next highest jump was vehicle theft up 29.63 percent going from 54 to 70.
Auto burglary was up 10.42 percent going from 96 to 106.
The good news was a double digit drop in residential burglaries. They’ve dropped 20.59 percent going from 34 in 2017 to 27 this year.
 All burglaries were down in raw numbers overall last year at 807 after jumping 8.63 percent in 2016 and 21.58 percent in 2015. The overall burglaries — auto, residential, commercial, and others — came to a combined 869 in 2016 and 800 in 2015. That compares to 1,146 in 2007 the farthest back the Bulletin has tracked every category of crime reported by the Manteca Police Department
Burglaries — auto, residential and commercial — were down 31.74 percent in 2014 from 2013. They dropped from 964 in 2013 to 658 in 2014. They had spiked upward in 2011 and 2012 reaching 1,101 and 1,017 respectively after recording only 800 in 2010. 
Auto burglaries numbered 713 in 2007, 380 in 2015, and 554 in 2016. They dropped 8.84 percent to 505 last year. Residential burglaries up last year by 8.07 percent going from 161 in 2016 to 174 in 2017. They had dropped 36.11 percent going from 252 in 2015 to 161 in 2016. There were 232 residential burglaries in 2007.
 Commercial burglaries also dropped going from 109 in 2016 to 106 in 2017 for a fall off of 2.75 percent. There were 160 commercial burglaries in 2007.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com