U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Juvenile Arrests, 2019

NCJ Number
256032
Author(s)
Charles Puzzanchera
Date Published
May 2021
Length
16 pages
Annotation

This bulletin documents the latest trends in arrests involving juveniles by drawing on arrest estimates developed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Juvenile Justice based on analyses of data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting program.

Abstract

This bulletin describes the latest trends in arrests involving juveniles (youth younger than age 18) from 1980 to 2019. These trends are based on analyses of data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program. Overall, juvenile arrests have been on the decline for more than two decades, but patterns vary by demographic group and offense. After increasing in recent years, the juvenile arrest rate for murder fell 6 percent in the last year, and the rates for robbery and aggravated assault reached a new low in 2019. Property crimes have declined in recent years, and by 2019, the juvenile arrest rates for larceny-theft, burglary, and arson were at their lowest levels since at least 1980, while the rate for motor vehicle theft was above its 2013 low point.