This bulletin uses data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) in summarizing juvenile arrests for various crime types during the 2009 reporting year, along with trends in juvenile arrest rates for various offenses from 2000 through 2009.
Contrary to the popular perception that juvenile crime is increasing, the data reported in this bulletin indicate that juvenile arrests for violent offenses decreased 10 percent between 2008 and 2009; juvenile arrests for all types of offenses declined 9 percent during the same period; still, juvenile crime and violence continue to impact communities across the country. Between 2000 and 2009, juvenile arrests for robbery increased 15 percent, and juvenile arrests for murder remained unchanged. In 2009, there were 578,500 arrests of females younger than age 18. Between 2000 and 2009, arrests of female juveniles decreased less than arrests of male juveniles in several offense categories. In 2009, 12 percent of arrests involved white juveniles and 14 percent involved Black juveniles. Between 1980 and the peak in 1991, the arrests rate for juveniles charged with forcible rape increased 50 percent. After 1991, the arrest rate for juveniles charged with forcible rape gradually declined, reaching a level in 2009 that was 58 percent below the 1991 peak; juveniles arrested for forcible rape in 2009 constituted the fewest such arrests in at least three decades. Trends in juvenile arrest rates through 2009 are also reported for robbery, aggravated assault, property crimes as a whole, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, simple assault, weapons violations, and drug offenses. Extensive tables and figures