The number of juveniles murdered in 2003 was the lowest since 1984

Each Crime in the United States report presents estimates of the number of crimes reported to law enforcement agencies. A large number of most crimes are never reported to law enforcement. Murder, however, is one crime that is nearly always reported. Therefore, murder is the crime for which the FBI data are most complete and most valid.

An estimated 16,500 murders were reported to law enforcement agencies in 2003, or 5.7 murders for every 100,000 U.S. residents. The murder rate in the U.S. was essentially constant between 1999 (the year with the fewest murders in the last 30 years) and 2003. Prior to 1999, the last year in which the U.S. murder rate was under 6.0 was in 1966.

Of all murder victims in 2003, 91% (or 14,950 victims) were 18 years of age or older. The other 1,550 murder victims were under age 18. Fewer juveniles were murdered in the U.S. in 2003 than in any year since 1984. The 2003 figure is 46% below the peak year of 1993, when an estimated 2,880 juveniles were murdered in the U.S.

Of all juveniles murdered in 2003, 40% were under age 5, 68% were male, and 50% were white. Compared with older juvenile murder victims, victims under age 13 in 2003 were more likely to be female (45% vs. 18%) and less likely to be black (40% vs. 54%).

In 2003, 67% of all murder victims were killed with a firearm. Adults were more likely to be killed with a firearm (69%) than were juveniles (45%). However, the involvement of a firearm depended greatly on the age of the juvenile victim. Whereas 14% of murdered juveniles under age 13 were killed with a firearm in 2003, 77% of murdered juveniles age 13 or older were killed with a firearm. The most common method of murdering children under age 5 was by physical assault; in 51% of these murders, the offenders’ only weapons were their hands and/or feet.

The 2.2 million arrests of juveniles in 2003 was 11% fewer than the number of arrests in 1999

Most Serious Offense 2003
Estimated
Number of
Juvenile Arrests 		Percent of Total
Juvenile Arrests
Percent Change
Female Under
Age 15 		1994–2003 1999–2003 2002–2003
Total 2,220,300   29%   32%   –18%   –11%   0%  
Violent Crime Index 92,300   18   33   –32   –9   0  
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 1,130   9   11   –68   –18   –10  
Forcible rape 4,240   2   37   –25   –11   –9  
Robbery 25,440   9   25   –43   –8   3  
Aggravated assault 61,490   24   36   –26   –9   0  
Property Crime Index 463,300   32   37   –38   –15   –3  
Burglary 85,100   12   35   –40   –15   –1  
Larceny-theft 325,600   39   38   –35   –15   –3  
Motor vehicle theft 44,500   17   25   –52   –15   –4  
Arson 8,200   12   61   –36   –12   –3  
Nonindex                        
Other assaults 241,900   32   43   10   5   5  
Forgery and counterfeiting 4,700   35   13   –47   –36   –8  
Fraud 8,100   33   18   –29   –37   –9  
Embezzlement 1,200   40   6   15   –30   –17  
Stolen property (buying, receiving, possessing)
24,300   15   27   –46   –19   –5  
Vandalism 107,700   14   44   –33   –11   2  
Weapons (carrying, possessing, etc.) 39,200   11   36   –41   –6   11  
Prostitution and commercialized vice 1,400   69   14   31   23   11  
Sex offense (except forcible rape and prostitution) 18,300   9   51   2   3   –3  
Drug abuse violations 197,100   16   17   19   –3   4  
Gambling 1,700   2   15   –59   46   1  
Offenses against the family and children 7,000   39   35   19   –24   –19  
Driving under the influence 21,000   20   2   33   –9   –4  
Liquor law violations 136,900   35   10   4   –22   –6  
Drunkenness 17,600   23   13   –11   –19   –6  
Disorderly conduct 193,000   31   41   13   –0   6  
Vagrancy 2,300   25   25   –50   –20   9  
All other offenses (except traffic) 379,800   27   28   –2   –12   –1  
Suspicion (not included in totals) 1,500   24   26   –77   –74   –53  
Curfew and loitering 136,500   30   29   –1   –18   –8  
Runaways 123,600   59   36   –42   –18   –2  

  • In 2003, there were an estimated 61,490 juvenile arrests for aggravated assault. Between 1994 and 2003, the annual number of such arrests fell 26%.

  • Females accounted for 24% of juvenile arrests for aggravated assault and 32% of juvenile arrests for other assaults (i.e., simple assaults and intimidations) in 2003, far more than their involvement in other types of violent crimes. Three of every five juvenile arrests (59%) for running away from home involved a female, as did 3 of every 10 arrests (30%) for curfew and loitering law violations.

  • Between 1994 and 2003, there were substantial declines in juvenile arrests for murder (68%), motor vehicle theft (52%), and weapons law violations (41%) and increases in juvenile arrests for drug abuse violations (19%) and driving under the influence (33%).

Note: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.

Data source: Crime in the United States 2003 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2004), tables 29, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40. Arrest estimates were developed by the National Center for Juvenile Justice.




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Juvenile Arrests 2003 OJJDP Bulletin • August 2005