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.
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.
