Study shows increase in California auto thefts, but not in Modesto

A new study says California continues to see a spike in auto thefts since a change in prison policy four years ago forced local jails to release more inmates early.

The Public Policy Institute of California said this week that sentencing lower-level felons to local lockups instead of state prisons led to a 17 percent increase in auto thefts in 2013. That’s similar to the bump seen in 2012.

While Modesto for years has ranked high on the list of cities most affected by auto theft and a number of times has topped it, the city has seen a drop in the crime during the past two years. In 2013 there was a 7 percent decrease compared with the prior year. The numbers continued to drop in 2014 for an 11.4 percent decrease.

Both violent and property crime dropped in California in 2013, and the researchers say an increase in property crime in 2012 was an aberration.

Jail populations continued to increase in the second year of realignment, but at a much slower rate.

As a result, early releases from jails leveled off after the first year, as did the decline in the prison population.

This story was originally published May 22, 2015 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Study shows increase in California auto thefts, but not in Modesto."