Typically, speeches given by district attorneys in Manteca over the past three decades get polite applause just at the end.

That wasn’t the case Thursday.

San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas’ talk before a gathering of 200 at the Great Wolf Lodge conference center during the Manteca Chamber of Commerce hosting of the State of the City event was repeatedly punctured with applause.

The most sustained applause greeted Freitas’ announcement “that the DA’s office is again prosecuting property crimes, vandalism, and trespassing.”

Freitas speech on Thursday came the same week that he marked his 100th day in office.

Freitas defeated two-term DA Tori Verber Salazar by a wide margin in the June primary.

He framed the election as a referendum on Verner Salazar’s vision of restorative justice.

Six years into Verner Salazar’s reign, she shifted gears.

She joined the restorative justice movement as defined by Los Angeles DA George Gascon and his San Francisco counterpart Chesa Boudin who has since been recalled.

Verber Salazar aligned herself with Gascon and Boudin’s reform ideas.

They run the gamut from not requiring bail on a wholesale basis for some crimes to no longer opposing the release of murderers up for parole and blocking prosecutors from seeking enhancement sentencing such as state law allows for documented gang members, using a gun in the commission of felony and such.

And while Verber Salazar didn’t implement all of the reforms, she did enough that it raised questions as to whether it was undermining public safety in San Joaquin County.

“(Prosecutors) are again being allowed to do their jobs,” Freitas said Thursday to applause.

In the past 100 days, the number of cases the DA’s office has taken to trial has tripled.

At the same time, Freitas has doubled down on endeavors that he has supported during his 34 years as a prosecutor aimed at breaking what he called “the playground to prison pipeline.”

Freitas is emphasizing enforcement of the law, early intervention, and justice for victims.

It’s a three-pronged approach that he stresses doesn’t abandon efforts to try and get at the root of criminal behavior and nip it in the proverbial bud.

That’s because he vows to re-enforce proven methods for producing results rooted in intervening with youth at an early age through education and offering alternatives to gangs. It also involves addressing “broken window crimes” — that if left unanswered by law enforcement, often set the stage for blight to create a breeding ground for more serious crimes.

As such, his decision to reinstate prosecution of property crimes, vandalism and trespassing is designed to target behavior that if not checked will essentially spread like cancer.

During his time working cases involving juvenile criminals, Freitas was acutely aware that those he was dealing with almost never ended up completing high school.

It is what prompted him to serve on the Lodi Unified School District board starting in 2012.

“Manteca has a DA’s office it can count on,” Freitas said.

Freitas added his office is stepping up to make sure those in the  Family City and elsewhere in the county — whether it is families or businesses — have a DA’s office that is on their side when they are  victimized by crime.

He noted his office has already successfully secured a $600,000 grant to further assist crime victims.

Freitas, a 34-year veteran of the DA’s office whose experience runs the  gamut from heading up the office’s homicide prosecutions to finding ways to try and keep juveniles from becoming repeat offenders, said during his campaign Verber Salazar had created a climate where criminals see the DA’s office has created a “get out of jail free card” for them in San Joaquin County.

On Tuesday, he assured those gathered at the State of the City event that it is no longer the case.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com