Juvenile arrests for violence in 2001 were the lowest since 1988
The FBI assesses trends in the volume of violent crimes by monitoring four offenses that are consistently reported by law enforcement agencies nationwide and are pervasive in all geographical areas of the country. These four crimes—murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—together form the Violent Crime Index.
After years of relative stability in the number of juvenile Violent Crime Index arrests, the increase in these arrests between 1988 and 1994 focused national attention on the problem of juvenile violence. After peaking in 1994, these arrests dropped each year from 1995 through 2001. For all Violent Crime Index offenses combined, the number of juvenile arrests in 2001 was the lowest since 1988. The number of juvenile aggravated assault arrests in 2001 was lower than in any year since 1990. With the exception of 2000, the number of juvenile arrests in 2001 for murder was lower than in any year since 1984, and the number for forcible rape was the lowest since 1976. Finally, the number of juvenile arrests for robbery was lower in 2001 than in any year since at least the early 1970s.
In the 10 years between 1992 and 2001, the decline in the number of violent crime arrests was greater for juveniles than adults:
Data source: Crime in the United States 2001, table 32. |
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