Juvenile crime facts
Crime and drug abuse are rated first and third as the biggest worries
Americans according to a recent survey for The Conference Board, a research
Crimes reported to police declined slightly for the third year in a row
during 1994, led by an eight percent drop in violent crime in cities with
than a million residents. FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 1994. However,
arrests of youths under eighteen years of age for violent crimes surged by
percent. Id. The number of teenagers under eighteen arrested for
has risen over one hundred fifty percent from 1985 to 1994. Id.
a disturbing trend, especially in light of the fact that Justice Department
surveys consistently show that less than half of all crime, including crimes
violence, is reported to the police.
Seventeen percent of all serious violent crimes in 1991 were committed
juveniles, either alone (eleven percent) or in juvenile groups (six
Juvenile Offenders and Victims: A National Report, National Center
Juvenile Justice (August, 1995). Another eight percent of serious violent
were committed by groups of offenders that included at least one juvenile.
Id. In all, twenty-five percent of all serious violent crime
juvenile offender. Id. Of these crimes, more than one-half involved
group of offenders. Id.
Data gathered from a variety of sources indicate that after a period of
relative stability in the rates of juvenile crime, there was a major turning
point in about 1985. A. Blumstein, Violence by Young People: Why the
Nexus?, National Institute of Justice Journal 229 (August, 1995). Then,
within the next seven years, the rate of homicides committed by young
number of homicides they committed with guns, and the arrest rate of
juveniles for drug offenses, all doubled. Id. This dramatic
juvenile violence seems to be fueled by the increase in drug trafficking
the mid-1980's, most particularly cocaine. Id.
Increasing youth violence has become a national concern, and juvenile
arrests are on the rise. Guide for Implementing the Comprehensive
for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders, Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention (June 1995). Between 1984 and 1993,
of juveniles for violent offenses rose by nearly sixty-eight percent.
Most of this increase occurred between 1989 and 1993, during which time
arrests for murder increased forty-five percent, arrests for robbery
thirty-seven percent, and arrests for aggravated assault increased
The most alarming statistics among these increases are the growth in
homicides and weapons violations among younger juveniles. Id.
1992 and 1993, homicide arrests of adolescents under age fifteen increased
twenty-four percent, while arrests of youth in this age group for weapons
violations increased twelve percent. Id. It is interesting to note
between 1988 and 1992, juvenile arrests for murder increased by fifty-one
compared to a nine percent increase for those over the age of eighteen.
Reno, United States Attorney General, Speech at the Birmingham - Jefferson
Center (February 25, 1994).
The fact that young people commit crime at a high rate should not be a
revelation. A. Blumstein, supra. The rates of robbery and burglary,
based upon the offender's age, indicate the peak age for offending is about
seventeen. Id. Beginning in 1985, the murder rate for eighteen
more than doubled in the following seven years. Id. For young
all ages under eighteen, the murder rate dramatically more than doubled.
Among black males aged fourteen to seventeen, the murder rate from the
mid-1970's to the mid-1980's consistently ran four to five times higher than
murder rate of similar aged white males. Id. Then, beginning about
the murder rates rose for both groups, most dramatically among blacks.
Id. For white males in this age group, the annual rate for murder
increased from 7.6 per 100,000 in 1987, to 13.6 per 100,000 in 1991.
In those four years, the arrest rate for murder by black males in this age
rose even faster, more than doubling from 50.4 to 111.8 per 100,000.
Beginning in 1985, there was a steady growth in the use of guns by
juveniles in committing murder. Id. The number of juvenile murders
committed with guns more than doubled from 1985 to 1992. Id.
Juvenile gang killings are the fastest growing type of homicide,
almost four hundred percent since 1980. Murder in America:
from the IACP Murder Summit, International Association of Chiefs of
Juvenile arrests for weapon law violations more than doubled between
and 1992. H. Snyder and M. Sickmund, supra. During this time
adult arrests for weapons offenses increased by twenty-one percent, while
juvenile arrests climbed one hundred seventeen percent. Id.
Drug arrest rates for juveniles, especially for non-whites, are rising
well. The arrests of juvenile drug offenders began to move upward in the
1980's, and then accelerated significantly after 1985 as the distribution of
crack cocaine became widespread. A. Blumstein, supra.
Evidence continues to mount showing that a small proportion of
commit most of the serious and violent juvenile crimes. Guide for
Implementing the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic
Juvenile Offenders, supra. Chronic offenders make up less than ten
of juvenile offenders, but are responsible for two-thirds of all violent
offenses. Id. Data shows that the arrest of serious violent careers
begins to increase at age twelve, doubles between ages thirteen and
continues to increase to a peak at ages sixteen to seventeen. Id.
drops fifty percent by age eighteen, and continues to decrease through age
twenty-seven. Id. Initial arrest for a violent offense in a serious
violent career most often takes place several years after initiation into
type of behavior since nearly half of those who continued their violent
into their twenties reported having begun their violent offending before age
eleven. Id. For intervention and treatment purposes, it is clear
the juvenile justice system is not seeing many offenders until it is too
intervene effectively. Id.