The busy summer months have begun for Manhattan Beach, along with an increase in service calls to the police department. However, while crimes are up in some categories in June compared with May, other areas have decreased.

All told, the Manhattan Beach Police Department received 3,313 calls for service during the month of June with a total of 68 arrests. That compares with 3,082 calls for service and 66 arrests in May; and 2,942 calls for service and 57 arrests in April. (While the number of service calls increased between May and June, the number of crime reports only rose by seven.)

For the month of June (compared to May), the most dramatic increases in crime were due to property theft; specifically larcenies and vehicular burglaries. In the case of larcenies, retail chains were the most targeted businesses in the city.

Overall between May and June, there were decreases in auto thefts (-5), and residential burglaries (-2). Nevertheless, there were increases in assaults (+5), larcenies (+19), robberies (+1), sexual offenses (+1, up from zero), and vehicular burglaries (+13). Of the four robberies in June, two were at gunpoint. There were no arsons, commercial burglaries, or homicides in the month of June.

According to MBPD, organized retail theft remains the most common property crime in Manhattan Beach. Organized retail theft (ORT) is defined as two or more people who conspire to steal retail merchandise with the intention of reselling products at a profit. Gangs and organized criminal enterprises sell stolen merchandise on anonymous online retail stores. Online marketplaces facilitate an anonymous, large-scale, and fast-paced movement of merchandise.

(In the lead photo above, MBPD's graveyard crew stopped a car full of stolen merchandise from several businesses in June after a shoplifting call for service. Two adults went to jail for organized retail theft and two other adults went to jail for warrants.)

All told in the month of June, there were 17 reported ORTs in Manhattan Beach. MBPD recommends that customers of any business establishment should always remain aware of their surroundings. Anyone who witnesses subjects placing an inexplicable amount of similar items in a shopping cart, reusable bag, duffel bag, or garbage bag, is asked to commit to memory a description and walk away, while notifying an employee at the front of the store.

Vehicular burglary is the second most common crime in Manhattan Beach. In the month of June, there were 27 vehicular burglaries; of these, 10 were stolen catalytic converters; most of which targeted the Toyota Prius. The MBPD once again reminds residents and visitors to secure vehicles and remove all valuables.

MBPD also reported that distraction thefts are on the rise around the South Bay, commonly targeting the older adult community. In once case in June, video surveillance revealed that one suspect following the reporting party to her vehicle while another suspect stayed hidden between vehicles in order to take the victim's wallet while she was being distracted. The suspect convinced the victim to exit her vehicle under the guise that there was damage to her car.