Recovery of Property

Most of the property taken in property crime is not recovered, but juveniles, even with their higher rates of victimization, recover some or all of their property more frequently than adults (15 percent vs. 11 percent) (table 9). Juveniles are somewhat more likely than adults to have some idea about the offender’s identity (35 percent vs. 28 percent), a factor that can help in recovery. Recovery for juveniles is more likely when the crime is reported to the police (24 percent) than when it is reported to other authorities like school officials (14 percent) or not reported at all (13 percent). A multivariate analysis shows that making a police report increases the likelihood of recovery for a juvenile by 76 percent, even controlling for crimes that occur in school and having some idea of the offender’s identity, two other factors that increase recovery (figure 7). Recovery for juveniles, curiously, is not any more likely for high-value items. The possibility that reporting to police actually increases the likelihood of recovery should perhaps be better publicized among juveniles as a way to increase their extremely low reporting rate.

Juvenile Victims of Property Crimes	Juvenile Justice Bulletin • December 2000