In 1997, 26% of juvenile arrests were arrests of females

Law enforcement agencies made 748,000 arrests of females below the age of 18 in 1997. Between 1993 and 1997, arrests of juvenile females increased more (or decreased less) than male arrests in most offense categories.

 Percent Change
in Juvenile Arrests
1993-1997
Most Serious Offense   Female   Male
Violent Crime Index  12%  -9%
   Murder  -36  -39
   Robbery  -3  7
   Aggravated assault  15  -10
Property Crime Index  10  -8
   Burglary  -3  -10
   Larceny-theft  14  -1
   Motor vehicle theft  -19  -31
Simple assault  30  12
Weapons  -8  -24
Drug abuse violations  117  78
Liquor laws  41  30
Disorderly conduct  52  25
Curfew and loitering  102  81
Runaways  0  -4
 
Data source: Crime in the United States 1997, table 35.

The juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate for females more than doubled between 1987 and 1995, then fell in each of the next 2 years

Chart

bullet In addition to overall violent crimes, female arrest rates in 1997 were substantially above their 1987 levels in many offense categories: robbery (52% increase), aggravated assault (101% increase), other assaults (142% increase), larceny-theft (22% increase), motor vehicle theft (36% increase), vandalism (42% increase), weapons law violations (100% increase), and drug abuse violations (131% increase).

Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. [See data source note 1 for detail.]

Blue Line
Juvenile Arrests 1997 Juvenile Justice Bulletin   ·  December 1998