Murder

• Between 1980 and 2004, the juvenile arrest rate for murder peaked in 1993. In that year, there were an estimated 3,790 arrests of juveniles for murder.

• From the mid-1980s to the peak in 1993, the juvenile arrest rate for murder more than doubled.

• With one minor exception, the juvenile arrest rate for murder fell each year after 1993, so that by 2004 it was 77% below the peak 1993 rate. In 2004, there were an estimated 1,110 arrests of juveniles for murder.

Forcible Rape

• Following the general pattern of other assaultive offenses, the juvenile arrest rate for forcible rape increased from the early 1980s through the early 1990s and then fell substantially.

• Over the 1980–2004 period, the juvenile arrest rate for forcible rape peaked in 1991, 44% above its 1980 level.

• After 1991, with minor exceptions, the juvenile arrest rate dropped annually through 2004. By 1999, it had returned to its 1980 level. By 2004, the juvenile arrest rate for forcible rape had fallen to a point 22% below the 1980 level, and to its lowest level in more than a generation.

Robbery

• Unlike the juvenile arrest rates for other violent crimes, the rate for robbery declined through much of the 1980s, reaching a low point in 1988, 30% below its 1980 level.

• The growth in the juvenile arrest rate for robbery between 1988 and 1994–95 moved the rate above the 1980 level, a pattern found in each of the other Violent Crime Index offenses.

• Like the other Violent Crime Index offenses, the juvenile arrest rate for robbery declined substantially after its mid-1990s peak, falling 62% from 1995 through 2004—to a point 55% below its 1980 level and 35% below its previous low point in 1988.

Aggravated Assault

• The juvenile arrest rate for aggravated assault doubled between 1980 and 1994. As with the other crimes in the Violent Crime Index, the juvenile arrest rate for aggravated assault fell from the mid-1990s to 2004; for aggravated assault, the decline from 1994 through 2004 was 39%.

• Unlike the juvenile arrest rates for other crimes in the Violent Crime Index, the rate for aggravated assault in 2004 was not at its lowest level in the 1980–2004 period. The juvenile arrest rate for aggravated assault in 2004 was, in fact, 23% above its 1980 level.

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.]