MANCHESTER - Reported shoplifting cases were up 10 percent for the first 10 months of this year in the city, according to police statistics compiled for the New Hampshire Sunday News.

There were 375 reported cases from January through October, compared with 341 last year, according to the Manchester Police Department.

Police Lt. Maureen Tessier didn't have statistics on what percent of shoplifting cases ended in arrests.

"In general, stores are more likely to report it if they catch someone in the act or have other evidence, such as surveillance video that depicts the crime," she said.

In all of 2011, December (51) and November (48) saw the greatest number of such reports, while May (21) generated the least.

"During the holiday shopping season, there are more people going to these locations and it (would) be logical to expect those incidents would increase because there's more people," said Tessier.

Among the city's three police sectors, the one covering the south end - including retail-heavy South Willow Street and the Mall of New Hampshire - reported 7 of all 10 reported shoplifting cases - 310 of 440 - during all of 2011.

The West Side sector had 1 in 10 reported cases - 44 - while the center city and east side recorded the remaining 2 in 10 cases, with 86 reported incidents.

For the first 10 months of 2012, police recorded 260 reports in the south end, 42 on the West Side and 73 in the center city and east side.