Most arrested juveniles were referred to court

In most states, some persons under age 18 are, due to their age or by statutory exclusion, under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system. For arrested persons under age 18 and under the original jurisdiction of their state’s juvenile justice system, the FBI’s UCR Program monitors what happens as a result of the arrest. This is the only instance in the UCR Program in which the statistics on arrests coincide with state variations in the legal definition of a juvenile.

In 2002, 18% of arrests involving youth eligible in their state for processing in the juvenile justice system were handled within law enforcement agencies, 73% were referred to juvenile court, and 7% were referred directly to criminal court. The others were referred to a welfare agency or to another police agency. The proportion of arrests sent to juvenile court has increased gradually from 1990 to 2002 (from 64% to 73%). In 2002, the proportion of juvenile arrests sent to juvenile court was similar in cities (72%), suburban counties (74%), and rural counties (72%).

In 2002, juvenile arrest rates for murder, forcible rape, and robbery were at or near their lowest levels since at least 1980; the same was not true for the juvenile arrest rate for aggravated assault

Murder

• In the period between 1980 and 2002, the juvenile arrest rate for murder peaked in 1993. In that year, there were about 3,840 arrests of juveniles for murder.
  
  
• Between the mid-1980s and 1993, the juvenile arrest rate for murder more than doubled.
  
  
• After 1993, the juvenile arrest rate for murder fell each year through 2000—a total decline of 74%. Both 2001 and 2002 saw juvenile arrest rates for murder slightly above the low level of 2000.

Forcible Rape

• The juvenile arrest rate for forcible rape did not vary as much as the rates for other violent crimes over the period 1980–2002, although it did follow the same general pattern of growth and decline.
  
  
• In 1991, the juvenile arrest rate for forcible rape peaked for the 1980–2002 period at 44% above its level in 1980.
  
  
• After 1993, the rate fell each year through 2000, then held constant through 2002. In 2002, the juvenile arrest rate for forcible rape was near its lowest level of the 1980–2002 period.

Robbery

• The juvenile arrest rate for robbery declined during much of the 1980s, falling 30% between 1980 and 1988.
  
  
• In 1989, this trend changed and the rate grew to its high level of 1995, 69% above the 1988 level and 19% above its 1980 level.
  
  
• Between 1995 and 2002, the juvenile arrest rate for robbery fell 62%; by 2002, it was at its lowest level since at least 1980 and 36% below the low point in 1988.

Aggravated Assault

• The juvenile arrest rate for aggravated assault doubled between 1980 and 1994, generally paralleling the arrest rate trends for murder and robbery.
  
  
• Unlike the juvenile arrest rate trends for murder and robbery, the decline (of 37%) in the juvenile arrest rate for aggravated assault between 1994 and 2002 did not erase the increase that began in the mid-1980s. The juvenile arrest rate for aggravated assault in 2002 was still 27% above the 1980 level.

Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the National Center for Health Statistics. [See data source note for detail.]

Juvenile arrest rate trends for the four offenses that make up the Property Crime Index show very different patterns over the 1980–2002 period

Burglary

• Unlike the arrest rate trend for any other Property Crime Index offense, the juvenile arrest rate for burglary declined consistently and substantially between 1980 and 2002.
  
  
• In 2002, the juvenile arrest rate for burglary was just one-third of what it had been in 1980.
  
  
• Between 1993 and 2002, the number of arrests for burglary declined for both juveniles and adults (39% and 24%, respectively). Similarly, in the 10-year period 1984–1993, the decline was greater for juveniles (17%) than for adults (4%).

Larceny-Theft

• In 2002, 71% of all juvenile Property Crime Index arrests were for larceny-theft. The most common larceny-theft violation is shoplifting. Therefore, Property Crime Index arrest rate trends primarily reflect trends in larceny-theft and are influenced to a much lesser degree by the generally more serious property crimes of burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
  
  
• The juvenile arrest rate for larceny-theft remained relatively constant between 1980 and 1997, then fell 35% in the brief period between 1997 and 2002.

Motor Vehicle Theft

• The juvenile arrest rate for motor vehicle theft soared between 1983 and 1990, increasing 138%.
  
  
• After the peak years of 1990 and 1991, the juvenile arrest rate for motor vehicle theft declined substantially and consistently through 2002, so that by 2002 the rate was at its lowest level since at least 1980.
  
  
• Between 1993 and 2002, the number of arrests for motor vehicle theft declined 50% for juveniles and just 7% for adults.

Arson

• After being relatively stable for most of the 1980s, the juvenile arrest rate for arson grew 55% between 1987 and 1994.
  
  
• With the exception of 2001, the juvenile arrest rate for arson declined each year between 1994 and 2002, falling in 2002 to a level near the lowest experienced in the 1980–2002 period.

Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the National Center for Health Statistics. [See data source note for detail.]

Juvenile Arrests 2002	OJJDP Bulletin • September 2004