In 1999, juvenile arrest rates for robbery fell to their lowest level in more than 20 years

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, similar trends were found in the robbery arrest rates of juvenile males and females and of each racial group Robbery arrest rate trends by gender and race In 1980, the black juvenile arrest rate for robbery was 12 times the white rate; by 1999, this ratio had fallen to 6 to 1, reflecting the substantial decline in the black rate in the latter part of the 1990s. 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 details.]

The juvenile arrest rate for robbery declined steadily for most of the 1980s. There was, however, an abrupt turnabout in 1989. In the 6 years between 1988 and 1995, the juvenile robbery arrest rate increased 70%, to a level nearly 20% above the 1980 rate. Over this period, the juvenile proportion of robbery arrests increased from 22% to 32%. The decline in the juvenile robbery arrest rate from 1995 to 1999 was even more abrupt. During this 4-year period, the rate was cut in half, falling to a point 20% below the previous low point in 1988.

Throughout the 1980s, 7% of all juvenile robbery arrests were arrests of females. This proportion increased to 9% in the 1990s, reflecting the greater percentage increase in the female arrest rate between 1988 and 1995 (109% for females vs. 66% for males). Between 1995 and 1999, rates declined at similar proportions for females and males (52% vs. 56%).

Black juveniles had far higher robbery arrest rates than other juveniles throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although the racial disparity decreased in the late 1990s. The trends in arrest rates within racial groups, however, generally paralleled each other. Whatever caused these large changes in juvenile robbery arrests (and, by inference, juvenile robberies) affected all races equally.

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