Introduction: Howard N. Snyder

In 1998, law enforcement agencies in the United States made an estimated 2.6 million arrests of persons under age 18.* According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), juveniles accounted for 18% of all arrests and 17% of all violent crime arrests in 1998. The substantial growth in juvenile violent crime arrests that began in the late 1980's peaked in 1994. In 1998, for the fourth consecutive year, the total number of juvenile arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses—murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—declined. Specifically, between 1994 and 1998, juvenile arrests for Violent Crime Index offenses fell 19%, compared with just a 6% decline for adults. However, even with this substantial decline, the number of juvenile Violent Crime Index arrests in 1998 was still 15% above the 1989 level. In comparison, the number of adult arrests for a Violent Crime Index offense in 1998 was just 3% greater than in 1989.

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 are:

	Of the nearly 2,000 juveniles murdered in 1998, 48% were killed with a firearm, down from 56% in 1997.
	Juveniles were involved in 12% of murder arrests, 14% of aggravated assault arrests, 35% of burglary arrests, 27% of robbery arrests, and 24% of weapons arrests in 1998.
	Juvenile murder arrests increased substantially between 1987 and 1993. In the peak year of 1993, there were about 3,800 juvenile arrests for murder. Between 1993 and 1998, juvenile arrests for murder declined, with the number of arrests in 1998 (2,100) about half that in 1993.
	Between 1994 and 1998, juvenile arrests for burglary declined 17% and juvenile arrests for motor vehicle theft declined 40%.
	Juveniles were involved in 13% of all drug abuse violation arrests in 1998. Between 1989 and 1998, juvenile arrests for drug abuse violations increased 86%.
	Juvenile arrests for curfew and loitering violations increased 178% between 1989 and 1998. In 1998, 27% of curfew arrests involved juveniles under age 15 and 30% involved females.
	In 1998, 58% of arrests for running away from home involved females and 40% involved juveniles under age 15.
	Arrests of juveniles accounted for 12% of all violent crimes cleared by arrest in 1998—specifically, 6% of murders, 11% of forcible rapes, 16% of robberies, and 12% of aggravated assaults.

What do arrest statistics count?

The Juvenile proportion of arrests exceeded the juvenile proportion of crimes cleared by arrest in each offences category, reflecting the fact that juveniles are more likely to commit crimes in groups and are more likely to be arrested than are adults To interpret the material in this Bulletin properly, the reader must have a clear understanding of what these statistics count. The arrest statistics report the number of arrests made by law enforcement agencies in a particular year—not the number of individuals arrested, nor the number of crimes committed. The number of arrests is not equivalent to the number of people arrested, because an unknown number of individuals are arrested more than once in the year. Nor do arrest statistics represent counts of crimes committed by arrested individuals, because a series of crimes committed by one individual may culminate in a single arrest, or a single crime may result in the arrest of more than one person. This latter situation, where many arrests result from one crime, is relatively common in juvenile law-violating behavior, because juveniles are more likely than adults to commit crimes in groups. This is the primary reason why arrest statistics should not be used to indicate the relative proportion of crime committed by juveniles and adults. Arrest statistics are most appropriately a measure of flow into the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Arrest statistics also have limitations for measuring the volume of arrests for a particular offense. Under the UCR Program, the FBI requires law enforcement agencies to classify an arrest by the most serious offense charged in that arrest. For example, the arrest of a youth charged with aggravated assault and possession of a controlled substance would be reported to the FBI as an arrest for aggravated assault. Therefore, when arrest statistics show that law enforcement agencies made an estimated 205,800 arrests of young people for drug abuse violations in 1998, it means that a drug abuse violation was the most serious charge in these 205,800 arrests. An unknown number of additional arrests in 1998 included a drug charge as a lesser offense.

What do clearance statistics count?

Clearance statistics measure the proportion of reported crimes that were resolved by an arrest or other, exceptional means (e.g., death of the offender, unwillingness of the victim to cooperate). A single arrest may result in many clearances. For example, one arrest could clear 40 burglaries if the person was charged with committing all 40 of these crimes. Or multiple arrests may result in a single clearance if the crime was committed by a group of offenders. For those interested in juvenile justice issues, the FBI also reports information on the proportion of clearances that were cleared by the arrest of persons under age 18. This statistic is a better indicator of the proportion of crime committed by this age group than is the arrest proportion, although there are some concerns that even the clearance statistic overestimates the juvenile proportion of crimes.

For example, the FBI reports that persons under age 18 accounted for 27% of all robbery arrests but only 16% of all robberies that were cleared in 1998. If it can be assumed that offender characteristics of cleared robberies are similar to those of robberies that were not cleared, then it would be appropriate to conclude that persons under age 18 were responsible for 16% of all robberies in 1998. However, the offender characteristics of cleared and noncleared robberies may differ for a number of reasons. If, for example, juvenile robbers were more easily apprehended than adult robbers, the proportion of robberies cleared by the arrest of persons under age 18 would overestimate the juvenile responsibility for all robberies. To add to the difficulty in interpreting clearance statistics, the FBI's reporting guidelines require the clearance to be tied to the oldest offender in the group if more than one person is arrested for a crime.

In summary, while the interpretation of reported clearance proportions is not straightforward, these data are the closest measure generally available of the proportion of crime known to law enforcement that is attributed to persons under age 18. These data should provide a barometer of the changing contribution of persons under age 18 to the Nation's crime problems.

* Throughout this Bulletin, persons under age 18 are referred to as juveniles. See Notes.

Juvenile Arrests 1998	Juvenile Justice Bulletin   ·  December 1999