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The juvenile share of the crime problem decreased in 1998 The relative responsibility of juveniles for the U.S. crime problem is hard to determine. Studying the proportion of crimes that are cleared by the arrest of juveniles gives one estimate of the juvenile responsibility for crime. The clearance data in the Crime in the United States series show that the proportion of violent crimes attributed to juveniles has declined in recent years. Juvenile involvement in violent crime grew from 9% or 10% in the early 1980's to 14% in 1994 and 1995. Since 1995, the proportion of violent crimes cleared by juvenile arrest has declined, reaching 12% in 1998. The proportion of murders cleared by juvenile arrests peaked in 1994 at 10.5%. In 1998, this figure had dropped to 6.3%, the lowest level since 1987 but still above the 4.6% level of the mid-1980's. The juvenile proportion of cleared forcible rapes peaked in 1995 (15%) and then fell, with the 1998 proportion (11%) the lowest in the decade. The juvenile proportion of robbery clearances in 1998 (16%) was below its peak in 1995 (20%) but above the levels of the early 1980's (12%). Similarly, the juvenile proportion of aggravated assault clearances in 1998 (12%) was below its peak in 1994 (13%) but still above the levels of the early 1980's (9%). The proportion of Property Crime Index offenses cleared by juvenile arrest in 1998 (21%) was 2 percentage points below the average for the years between 1980 and 1997.
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