The growth in juvenile motor vehicle theft arrest rates that began in 1984 was erased by 1999

The juvenile arrest rate for motor vehicle theft in 1999 was half that at the beginning of the decade Motor vehicle theft arrest rate trends by gender and race Although both the male and female arrest rates for motor vehicle theft peaked and then declined between 1980 and 1999, the male peak preceded the female peak by 3 years (1990 vs. 1993). The relative growth and subsequent decline in the motor vehicle theft arrest rate was far more pronounced for black juveniles than white juveniles. Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. [See arrest rate data source note for detail.]

Juvenile arrest rates for motor vehicle theft fell to a low point in 1983 for males and females and for whites, blacks, and American Indians. (The Asian rate bottomed out in 1984.) After 1983, and predating the growth in juvenile arrests for violent crime, the juvenile arrest rate for motor vehicle theft increased each year through 1990, when the rate was 138% above its 1983 level. In contrast, the juvenile arrest rate for motor vehicle theft fell in the 1990s—by 1999, it was near its 1983 low.

The juvenile arrest rate trends for motor vehicle theft differed from those for the other high-volume theft crimes of burglary and larceny-theft. In the 1980s and 1990s, the burglary arrest rate declined consistently and the larceny-theft rate remained relatively stable, but the motor vehicle theft rate soared and then dropped just as dramatically.

Male and female juvenile arrest rates for motor vehicle theft displayed generally similar trends in the 1980s and 1990s, first increasing then decreasing. However, the male rate peaked in 1990, whereas the female rate did not peak until 1993. With a longer period of decline than the female rate, the male rate in 1999 fell to within 7% of its 1983 low, while the female rate was still 76% above its low point.

The motor vehicle theft arrest rate for black juveniles grew far more than the rate for whites between 1983 and 1989 (254% vs. 86%). By 1999, the white rate had returned to its 1983 low, but the black rate was 58% greater than its 1983 level.

Law Enforcement and Juvenile Crime	OJJDP National Report Series Bulletin December 2001