Juvenile Offense Statistics
According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), approximately 424,300 juvenile arrests were made in 2020. A juvenile is considered someone under the age of 18. The number of arrests marked a 71% decrease from the number of arrests made in 2011.
As reported by the OJJDP there were:
- 930 arrests for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
- 12,000 juvenile arrests for robbery
- 19.140 arrests for aggravated assault
- 15.130 arrests for burglary
- 46,700 arrests for larceny-theft
- 70,940 arrests for simple assault
- 23,130 juvenile arrests for vandalism
- 42,280 arrests for drug abuse violations
- 24,720 arrests for disorderly conduct
The data shows that juveniles are far more likely to commit property crimes compared to violent crimes. The research indicates that in 2020, 74,680 property crime arrests were made against juveniles compared to 32,070 violent crime arrests.
Violent crimes are considered offenses such as murder, nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Property crimes include burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
Overall, there has been a significant decrease in the number of juvenile arrests. Not only has there been a marked decrease in the number of juvenile arrests since 2011, but there has also been a decline in more recent years. For instance, the number of juvenile arrests went down 50% from 2016 to 2020 and 38% from 2019 to 2020.
