This report summarizes and analyzes national and State juvenile arrest data for 1999 as presented in the Federal Bureau of Investigation report Crime in the United States 1999.
The data revealed that juvenile violent crime arrests peaked in 1994 and then declined dramatically to a level in 1999 that was 36 percent below its 1994 peak. Arrests of juveniles accounted for 12 percent of all violent crimes cleared by arrest in 1999, including 6 percent of murders, 12 percent of forcible rapes, 15 percent of robberies, and 12 percent of aggravated assaults. The juvenile arrest rate for murder decreased 68 percent from 1993 to 1999 to reach its lowest level since the 1960's. The number of juvenile arrests declined in every violent crime category despite an 8 percent increase in the juvenile population from 1993 to 1999. Juvenile arrests for burglary have declined substantially since 1980. Juveniles were involved in 13 percent of all arrests for drug law offenses in 1999; juvenile arrests for drug violations increased 132 percent between 1990 and 1999. Juvenile arrests for curfew and loitering violations increased 113 percent between 1990 and 1999. Twenty-eight percent of curfew arrests in 1999 involved juveniles under age 15 and 30 percent involved females. Fifty-nine percent of arrests for running away from home involved females; 39 percent involved juveniles under age 15. Figures and tables