Juvenile arrests for violence in 2004 were the lowest since 1987

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, the number of juvenile Violent Crime Index arrests increased between 1988 and 1994 and then fell substantially and (with one exception) consistently from 1995 through 2004. For all Violent Crime Index offenses combined, the number of juvenile arrests in 2004 was the lowest since 1987. The number of juvenile aggravated assault arrests in 2004 was lower than in any year since 1988. The number of juvenile arrests in 2004 for murder and the number for forcible rape were both lower than in any year since at least 1980. Finally, even with the marginal 3% increase in the number of juvenile arrests for robbery between 2002 and 2003, the counts for the years 2002 through 2004 were still lower than in any year since at least 1980.

In the 10 years between 1995 and 2004, the number of arrests in most offense categories declined for both juveniles and adults, and the decline was generally greater for juveniles than adults:

Most Serious Offense	Percent Change in Arrests 1994–2004
	Juvenile	Adult
Violent Crime Index	–31%	–14%
Murder	–63	–25
Forcible rape	–22	–17
Robbery	–44	–14
Aggravated assault	–23	–13
Property Crime Index	–40	–13
Burglary	–39	–10
Larceny-theft	–38	–16
Motor vehicle theft	–53	–1
Simple assault	8	–7
Weapons law violations	–30	–27
Drug abuse violations	–4	26
Disorderly conduct	–2	–23
Data source: Crime in the United States 2004, table 32 (updated 2/17/2006).

The exceptions to the general pattern were the offenses of simple assault and disorderly conduct. The reason for the difference for these offenses is unclear.

Juvenile arrests for property crimes in 2004 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 2004, the juvenile Property Crime Index arrest rate dropped 47%, to its lowest level since at least the 1970s. Juvenile burglary arrest rates have been declining since at least the 1970s. In 2004, the juvenile arrest rates for larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft were both at their lowest levels since at least the 1970s.

The juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate in 2004 was lower than in any year since at least 1980 and half the peak rate in 1994 In 2004, there were 269 arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses for every 100,000 youth between 10 and 17 years of age. If each of these arrests involved a different juvenile (which is unlikely), then about 1 in every 370 persons ages 10–17 was arrested for a Violent Crime Index offense in 2004, or about one-third of 1% of all juveniles ages 10–17 living in the U.S. (Because some juveniles likely were arrested more than once, the actual percentage is probably lower.) Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics. [See data source note for detail.]

After years of relative stability, the juvenile Property Crime Index arrest rate began a decline in the mid-1990s that continued through 2004 The juvenile arrest rate for Property Crime Index offenses in 2004 was about half the 1980 level—down 48% over the period. The large declines over the last decade in the two arrest Indexes the FBI uses to monitor juvenile crime indicate a substantial reduction in the law-violating behavior of America’s youth. Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the National Center for Health Statistics. [See data source note for detail.]

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Juvenile Arrests 2004	OJJDP Bulletin • December 2006