Few juveniles are arrested for violent crime

The juvenile Violent Crime Index arrest rate tells us that in 1997, there were 407 arrests for these violent crimes for every 100,000 youth in the United States between 10 and 17 years of age. If each of these arrests involved a different juvenile (i.e., if each juvenile arrested in 1997 for a Violent Crime Index offense were arrested only once that year -- which is unlikely), then 1 in about every 250 persons ages 10 through 17 in the United States was arrested for a Violent Crime Index offense in 1997.

Between 1980 and 1997, Violent Crime Index arrest rates increased substantially for all ages -- more for adults than juveniles

Over the last several years, public attention has focused on increases in juvenile violent crime arrests. However, with the recent declines in this rate, the increase in the arrest rate for juveniles between 1980 and 1997 (22%) is now less than the increases found in most other age groups: 18- to 24-year-olds (23%), 25- to 29-year-olds (32%), 30- to 34-year-olds (60%), 35- to 39-year-olds (66%), 40- to 44-year-olds (50%), and 45- to 49-year-olds (35%).

Data source: Analysis of arrest data from the FBI and population data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. [See data source note 2 for detail.]