In 1999, approximately 1 in 6 arrests made by law enforcement agencies involved a juvenile

Juveniles accounted for 33% of all burglary arrests in 1999, 25% of robbery arrests, 24% of weapons arrests, 9% of murder arrests, and 13% of drug arrests
Percent of total juvenile arrests
Most serious offense charged All persons Males Females White Black American Indian Asian
Total 17% 16% 22% 18% 15% 18% 26%
Violent Crime Index
 16      16      17      16      17      17      21     
    Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
 9      10      6      10      9      15      17     
    Forcible rape
 17      17      26      17      16      16      20     
    Robbery
 25      26      22      25      25      30      36     
    Aggravated assault
 14      14      16      14      14      15      18     
Property Crime Index
 32      33      32      34      28      38      43     
    Burglary
 33      34      29      35      28      43      44     
    Larceny-theft
 31      31      32      33      27      36      41     
    Motor vehicle theft
 35      35      37      37      33      43      50     
    Arson
 54      55      43      57      41      52      63     
Other (simple) assaults
 18      16      24      18      18      16      22     
Forgery and counterfeiting
 6      7      6      8      4      9      9     
Fraud
 4      4      2      3      4      5      8     
Embezzlement
 10      10      10      10      10      6      16     
Stolen property (buying, receiving, possessing)
 23      24      19      25      21      33      39     
Vandalism
 42      44      33      46      29      37      49     
Weapons (carrying, possessing, etc.)
 24      24      29      27      19      33      39     
Prostitution and commercialized vice
 1      2      1      1      1      2      1     
Sex offenses (except forcible rape and prostitution)
 18      18      19      17      21      11      14     
Drug abuse violations
 13      13      10      14      10      20      19     
Gambling
 12      13      4      6      15      17      5     
Offenses against family and children
 7      5      11      7      4      5      9     
Driving under the influence
 1      1      2      2      1      2      2     
Liquor law violations
 24      21      34      26      10      23      26     
Drunkenness
 3      3      5      4      2      2      5     
Disorderly conduct
 27      25      33      27      26      20      31     
Vagrancy
 8      8      8      11      4      4      11     
All other offenses
(except traffic)
 11      11      14      13      8      9      16     

  • In 1999, 95% of all arrests involved persons between the ages of 10 and 49. Persons ages 10–17 made up 20% of this segment of the population. Therefore, based on their representation in this population, juveniles were disproportionately involved in arrests for arson, vandalism, motor vehicle theft, burglary, larceny-theft, disorderly conduct, robbery, and weapons law violations. In contrast, juveniles were underrepresented in arrests for murder, aggravated assault, forcible rape, and drug abuse violations.

  • A greater proportion of female arrests involved a juvenile (22%) than did male arrests (16%). Juveniles were involved in a larger proportion of female arrests than male arrests for liquor law violations (34% vs. 21%), disorderly conduct (33% vs. 25%), and simple assaults (24% vs. 16%).

  • A greater proportion of white arrests involved a juvenile (18%) than did black arrests (15%). Juveniles accounted for a larger proportion of white arrests than black arrests for vandalism (46% vs. 29%), burglary (35% vs. 28%), larceny-theft (33% vs. 27%), weapons law violations (27% vs. 19%), and liquor law violations (26% vs. 10%).

Data source: Adaptation of the FBI’s Crime in the United States 1999 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000).



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