Juvenile arrests for property crimes in 2001 were the lowest in at least three decades

As with violent crime, the FBI assesses trends in the volume of property 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, which form the Property Crime Index, are burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

For the period from 1988 through 1994, during which juvenile violent crime arrests increased substantially, juvenile property crime arrest rates remained relatively constant. After this long period of relative stability, juvenile property crime arrests began to fall. Between 1994 and 2001, the juvenile Property Crime Index arrest rate dropped 41%, to its lowest level since at least the 1960s. More specifically, juvenile burglary arrest rates have been declining since at least the early 1980s. In 2001, the juvenile larceny-theft arrest rate was at its lowest level and the juvenile motor vehicle theft arrest rate was near its lowest level since at least 1980.

The juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate in 2001 was at its lowest level since 1983—44% below the peak year of 1994

Chart showing juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate and juvenile Property Crime Index arrest rate, 1981-2001
  • All the growth in the juvenile violent crime arrest rate that began in the latter part of the 1980s was erased by 2001.
Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. [See data source note for detail.]


After years of relative stability, the juvenile arrest rate for Property Crime Index offenses began a decline in the mid-1990s that continued through 2001

Charts showing juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate and juvenile Property Crime Index arrest rate, 1981-2001

  • The relatively stable juvenile arrest rate trend between 1980 and the mid-1990s for Property Crime Index offenses stands in stark contrast to the Violent Crime Index arrest rate trend.
Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. [See data source note for detail.]


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Juvenile Arrests 2001 OJJDP Bulletin • December 2003