Juvenile Justice Bulletin -- December 2000 -- Juvenile Arrests 1999


John J. Wilson, Acting Administrator	December 2000

Juvenile Arrests 1999

Howard N. Snyder

Introduction

The 1999 murder rate was the lowest since 1966

The juvenile share of the crime problem decreased in 1999

In 1999, 27% of juvenile arrests were arrests of females

Juvenile arrests disproportionately involved minorities

The chance of being murdered varies with age, gender, and race

Juvenile arrests for violence in 1999 were the lowest in a decade

Few juveniles were arrested for violent crime

Juvenile arrests for property crimes declined substantially in recent years

Most arrested juveniles were referred to court

Notes

This Bulletin was prepared under cooperative agreement number 95�JN�FX�K008 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

From the Administrator

After peaking in 1994, juvenile violent crime arrests, which had increased substantially since the late 1980�s, declined dramatically. The juvenile arrest rate for violent crime in 1999 was 36% below its peak in 1994, and from 1993 to 1999, the juvenile arrest rate for murder decreased a remarkable 68%—to its lowest level since the 1960�s. The number of juvenile arrests have declined in every violent crime category despite an 8% growth in the juvenile population from 1993 to 1999.

Such encouraging news, however, should not result in complacency or lead us to reduce our efforts to combat violent juvenile crime. Rather, to further reduce the levels of juvenile violence and other juvenile offending, we should continue and expand our work in States and communities across this country to prevent and control delinquency and strengthen the juvenile justice system.

Juvenile Arrests 1999 provides a summary and analysis of national and State juvenile arrest data presented in the FBI report Crime in the United States 1999. It offers a road map of where we have been, while identifying trends that can help us to tailor responses and target resources more effectively in order to support the development of healthy, law-abiding youth.

John J. Wilson
Acting Administrator

Acknowledgments

This Bulletin was written by Howard N. Snyder, Director of Systems Research at the National Center for Juvenile Justice, with funds provided by OJJDP to support the Juvenile Justice Statistics and Systems Development Program. Janet Chiancone is the OJJDP Program Manager for this work. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance provided by the FBI�s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, specifically, Ken Candell and Maryvictoria Pyne.

NCJ 185236