Property Crime Index arrest rates are a barometer of the flow of youth into the juvenile justice system

The Property Crime Index is dominated by the high-volume crime category of larcenytheft. For juveniles, shoplifting is the most common offense in this category. The Index also includes the crimes of home burglary, auto theft, and arson—all serious crimes. Therefore, to assess the nature of juvenile property crimes within a jurisdiction, one must consider the categories individually. Nevertheless, since much juvenile crime is property crime, juvenile Property Crime Index arrest rates are a good barometer of the flow of juveniles into the juvenile justice system. In 1998, the national juvenile property crime arrest rate was 2,130. The highest rate reported by a county was more than five times the national rate. Nearly three-fourths of reporting counties had rates below the national average. Half of all reporting counties had rates below 1,518.

In 1998, the counties with high Property Crime Index arrest rates did not necessarily have high Violent Crime Index arrest rates Note: Rates were classified as “Data not available” when agencies with jurisdiction over more than 50% of their county’s population did not report. Data source: Analysis of arrest estimates from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program data [United States]: County-level detailed arrest and offense data, 1998 [machine-readable data file] and population estimates from the U.S. Bureau of the Census’ Estimates of the population of counties by age and sex: 1990–1999 [machine-readable data files available online, released August 30, 2000].

Although juvenile arrest rates may largely reflect juvenile behavior, many other factors can affect the magnitude of these rates. Arrest rates are calculated by dividing the number of youth arrests made in the year by the number of youth living in the jurisdiction. Therefore, jurisdictions that arrest a relatively large number of nonresident juveniles would have a higher arrest rate than jurisdictions where resident youth behave similarly. Jurisdictions (especially small ones) that are vacation destinations or that are centers for economic activity in a region may have arrest rates that reflect the behavior of nonresident youth more than that of resident youth.

Other factors that influence arrest rates in a given area include the attitudes of citizens toward crime, the policies of local law enforcement agencies, and the policies of other components of the justice system. In many areas, not all law enforcement agencies report their arrest data to the FBI. Rates for such areas are necessarily based on partial information and may not be accurate.

Comparisons of juvenile arrest rates across jurisdictions can be informative. Because of the factors noted, however, comparisons should be made with caution.

Analysis of arrest data from unpublished FBI reports for 1980 through 1997 and from Crime in the United States reports for 1998 and 1999 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1999 and 2000, respectively); population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Population Estimates by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1980 to 1999 [machine-readable data files available online, released April 11, 2000].

Snyder, H.N. 1999. The overrepresentation of juvenile crime proportions in robbery clearance statistics. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 15(2):151–161.

Snyder, H.N. 2000. Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics. BJS Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

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