This report summarizes and analyzes national and State juvenile arrest data from the FBI's report entitled Crime in the United States 2004.
In 2004, the juvenile arrest rate for Violent Crime Index offenses decreased for the 10th consecutive ear, declining to half of its 1994 peak and reaching its lowest level since 1980. The juvenile arrest rate for murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault has decreased steadily since the mid-1990s. Females accounted for 24 percent of juvenile arrests for aggravated assault and 33 percent for other assaults in 2004, far more than their involvement in other types of violent crimes. Between 1980 and 2004, the juvenile arrest rate for simple assault increased 106 percent for males and 290 percent for females. The disparity in violent crime arrest rates for Black juveniles and white juveniles declined from six-to-one in 1980 to four-to-one in 2004. Juvenile arrest rates for Property Crime Index offenses also declined in 2004, reaching their lowest level in at least three decades. Between 1995 and 2004, juvenile arrests for drug abuse fell 8 percent for males and increased 29 percent for females. Tables and figures