Introduction

In 2004, law enforcement agencies in the United States made an estimated 2.2 million arrests of persons under age 18.* According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), juveniles accounted for 16% of all arrests and 16% of all violent crime arrests in 2004. The substantial growth in juvenile violent crime arrests that began in the late 1980s peaked in 1994. In 2004, for the tenth consecutive year, the rate of juvenile arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses—murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—declined. Specifically, between 1994 and 2004, the juvenile arrest rate for Violent Crime Index offenses fell 49%. As a result, the juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate in 2004 was at its lowest level since at least 1980. From its peak in 1993 to 2004, the juvenile arrest rate for murder fell 77%.

These findings are derived from data reported annually by local law enforcement agencies across the country to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. Based on these data, the FBI prepares its annual Crime in the United States report, which summarizes crimes known to the police and arrests made during the reporting calendar year. This information is used to characterize the extent and nature of juvenile crime that comes to the attention of the justice system. Other recent findings from the UCR Program include the following:

• Of the estimated 1,590 juveniles murdered in 2004, 38% were under 5 years of age, 68% were male, 51% were white, and 48% were killed with a firearm.

• Juveniles were involved in 12% of all violent crimes cleared in 2004—specifically, 5% of murders, 12% of forcible rapes, 14% of robberies, and 12% of aggravated assaults.

• In the peak year of 1993, there were about 3,790 juvenile arrests for murder. Between 1993 and 2004, juvenile arrests for murder declined, with the number of arrests in 2004 (1,110) 71% below the 1993 level.

• Females accounted for 24% of juvenile arrests for aggravated assault and 33% of those for other assaults in 2004, far more than their involvement in other types of violent crimes.

• Between 1980 and 2004, the juvenile arrest rate for simple assault increased 106% for males and 290% for females.

• The disparity in violent crime arrest rates for black juveniles and white juveniles declined from 6-to-1 in 1980 to 4-to-1 in 2004.

• The juvenile arrest rate for motor vehicle theft declined consistently and substantially between 1990 and 2004, falling 66%.

• Between 1995 and 2004, juvenile arrests for drug abuse violations fell 8% for males and increased 29% for females.

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Juvenile Arrests 2004	OJJDP Bulletin • December 2006