This report presents national data about juvenile arrests for the year 2000.
According to data collected from local law enforcement agencies across the United States, an estimated 2.4 million juveniles were arrested during the year 2000. A juvenile is defined as any person under 18 years of age. According to the FBI, juveniles account for 17 percent of all arrests, 9 percent of murder arrests, 14 percent of aggravated assault arrests, 33 percent of burglary arrests, 25 percent of robbery arrests, and 24 percent of weapons arrests during 2000. These juvenile arrests represented a 41 percent decline in the number of juvenile arrests for violent index crimes during the period 1994 through 2000. In fact, according to the report, the juvenile violent crime arrest rate in 2000 was at its lowest level since 1985. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention cautions that this decline in the juvenile arrest rate is not cause to scale down programs designed to reduce juvenile crime. Rather, it is an indication that such programs work and should be continued. Efforts should focus on reducing juvenile crime recidivism by examining programs that assist juvenile offenders in making a smooth transition back into their communities upon release from juvenile detention centers or adult jails and prisons. Other data offered in this report indicate that juvenile arrests for property crimes in 2000 were the lowest in the past three decades. The report contains many tables presenting juvenile arrests for different crimes from 1980 through 2000. These tables reveal that minorities experience the largest percentage of juvenile arrests and that female juvenile arrests are increasing, particularly for the crimes of aggravated assault, simple assault, weapons violations, and drug abuse.
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