Trends in Arrest Rates From the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports

According to UCR data, on average, for the period 1980 to 1998, the juvenile arrest rate for serious violent crimes was 5 per 1,000 persons ages 12 to 17 in the residential population of the United States.¹ Arrests decreased during the early 1980s and then (with the exception of 1987) increased steadily from 1984 until 1994 (figure 1). They began to decrease in 1995 and continued to decrease through 1998.

Throughout the period 1980 to 1998, the arrest rates for serious violent crimes were much higher for male juveniles than for female juveniles (figure 2). On average, the arrest rate for male juveniles was 6.6 times that for female juveniles—8.6 per 1,000 and 1.3 per 1,000, respectively.² The overrepresentation of males in the juvenile arrest rates for serious violent crimes decreased over time. In 1980, the arrest rate for male juveniles was 8.4 times the rate for female juveniles. This imbalance declined steadily so that by 1998 the arrest rate for male juveniles was only 4.5 times that for female juveniles.

Throughout the period, the arrest rates for serious violent crimes were much higher for black juveniles than for white juveniles (figure 3)—on average, 16.6 per 1,000 and 3.0 per 1,000, respectively. The disproportionately larger involvement of black juveniles in arrests for serious violent crimes decreased over time. In 1980, the arrest rate for black juveniles was 6.1 times the rate for white juveniles, and in 1981, the ratio was 6.6. By 1998, it had fallen to 3.9. Although this decrease was pronounced, it was not consistent throughout the period. Much of the decrease occurred between 1996 and 1998.

Trends in Juvenile Violent Offending: An Analysis of Victim Survey Data	OJJDP Bulletin • October 2002