Juvenile_Crime_Statistics

Juvenile Crime Statistics CJA/ 374 Juvenile Justice System and Processes August 27, 2012 Juvenile Crime Statistics Juvenile crimes and arrest overall in 2008 decreased. The arrest statistics are a an approximation, a method of measurement created by the flow of juvenile arrests reported into the justice system, that only counts the most serious offense at the time of the arrest. All across the country law enforcement agencies submit their finding to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. This information is then gathered and submitted into the annual United States statistical report, used to define and categorized all juvenile crimes. Decrease in Juvenile Arrest According to Charles Puzzanchera, in 2008, there was a 3% decrease in juvenile arrest when compared with 2007. Charles Puzzanchera, stated that “In 2008, law enforcement agencies in the United States made an estimated 2.11 million arrest” on juveniles. The FBI requires law enforcement agencies to categorize an arrest by the most serious offense charged at the time of the arrest. “Arrest rates are calculated by dividing the number of youth arrests made through out that one year in the reported jurisdictions” (Puzzanchera, 2009). In 2008, one out of ten juveniles that were arrested was arrested for murder. According to Charles Puzzanchera, “The arrest rates for murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault remain well below their peak levels of the 1990’s. One out of four juveniles was arrested for robbery, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft.” One in eight violent crimes was related to a juveniles doing. Juvenile arrests for violence have decreased from 2006 to 2008. However, the arrest made on a juvenile due to property crime has increased by 9% between the years of 2006 and 2008. Charles Puzzanchera states, “out of the 2.11 million arrested 30% were juvenile females” (Puzzanchera, 2009). Drug Offenses and Simple Assaults The juvenile arrest rates for simple assaults declined somewhat between the years of 2006 to 2008. The simple assault rate has gone down by 7%. While the percentage rate for aggravated assault has decreased by 43% between the years of 1994 to 2008. The juvenile arrest rate for drug offenses has dropped since 1997. CharlesPuzzanchera stated that, “between 1990 and 1997, the juvenile arrest rate for drug violations increased 145%. The rate declined 28% between 1997 and 2008, but the 2008 rate was 78% more than the 1990 rate.” (Puzzanchera, 2009) Juvenile Females and Racial Minorities In 2008, juvenile females arrests increased by 30 %, while male arrests decreased. Between the years of 1999 and 2008, the number of larceny arrest in juvenile females increased by 4%, while juvenile males decreased by 29%. From 1999 to 2008, juvenile female arrests increase for the following categorize: robbery, simple assault, property crime, vandalism, driving under the influence, and disorderly conduct (Puzzanchera, 2009). According to Charles Puzzanchera, “The U.S juvenile population in 2008 was 78 % white, 16 % black, 5% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1% American Indian.” Most Hispanic juveniles were included in the white category. These juveniles are all between the ages of 10 to 17 years old. In 2008, 47% of white juveniles were arrested for violent crimes; whereas, 52 % of juveniles arrested were black and 1% were Asian and American Indian juveniles. When looking at property crime arrests 65 % was white juveniles, 33 % was black juveniles, 2 % was Asian juveniles and 1% was American Indian juveniles. Violent crime arrests for juveniles in 2008 were as followed: “black juvenile (926) was about 5 times the rate for white juveniles (178), 6 times the rate for American Indian juveniles (153), and 13 times the rate for Asian juveniles (71)” (Puzzanchera, 2009). Juvenile Females vs. Juvenile Male Juvenile female’s aggravated assault rate more than tripled since the 1980. The juvenile male arrest rate was just 4% more since the 1980’s. In 2008, the robbery arrest for the juvenile female was at 51 % and the juvenile male was at 51%. The violent crimes between the juvenile females and males have decreased from 1999 to 2008. The juvenile females are at -10% and the juvenile males are at a -8% when it one views the stats for violent crimes among the juvenile (Puzzanchera, 2009). Tracking Juvenile Crimes and their Trends The FBI uses the UCR to publish an annual juvenile arrests report. The UCR represents more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies all over the United States. The UCR categorizes crimes into two parts. Part I consist of the most serious crimes such as, “murder, non-negligent man slaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny- theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson” (Champion, 2010). Part II consist of, misdemeanors and status offenses. Vandalism, stolen property, drug abuse violations, sex offenses, curfew, runaways, and disorderly conduct fall in the part II category (Champion, 2010). While juvenile arrest rates reflect on juvenile behaviors there are several other facts that may affect these rates as well. An example would be “jurisdictions that arrest a relatively large number of nonresident juveniles would have higher arrest rates than jurisdictions where resident youth behave in an identical manner. Therefore, jurisdictions that are vacation destinations or regional centers for economic activity may have arrest rates that reflect more than the behavior of their resident youth. Other factors that influence the magnitude of arrest rates in a given area include the attitudes of its citizens toward crime, the policies of the jurisdiction’s law enforcement agencies, and the policies of other components of the justice system.” (Puzzanchera, 2009, p. 11) Conclusion The information that has been gathered in this document was mostly provided by Charles Puzzanchera, who utilized the FBI’s UCR annual report. Although the information is correct the total overall counts of juvenile arrest are not accurate. Consequently the juvenile arrest rates throughout the United States are not all reported by law enforcement agencies to the FBI which also contributes to the inaccurate of the report. References Champion, D. J. (2010). The juvenile justice system: Delinquency, processing, and the law (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Puzzanchera, C. (2009, December). Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Juvenile Arrests 2008, 1 - 12. Retrieved from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov