Arrests Rate for Juveniles in 2008

Juvenile Arrests:

The law enforcement agencies in the United States reported approximately 2.11 million juvenile arrests in 2008 of people younger than 18 years. As compared to 2007, there were fewer juvenile arrests with 3% decline and 2% decline in arrests associated with violent crime. The decline in juvenile arrests continued a trend that was prevalent after 2007, which had a higher rate of arrests of people below 18 years. Actually, these arrests had escalated for nearly more than two years since the 2005 statistics. The increase during this period was accompanied with concerns that the country was on the verge of another juvenile crime wave. A significant portion of juveniles who were arrested during period were accused of violent offenses like rape, aggravated assault, and murder.

Overall Decrease in Juvenile Arrests:

In 2008, there were slightly more than 2 million people under 18 years who were arrested most of who were accused of violent crimes like rape, murder, or aggravated assault. These statistics represented 3% decline as compared to juvenile arrests in 2007 and 2% decline in violent crime arrests (Puzzanchera, 2009). The rates of juvenile arrests in 2008 also decreased as compared to 2005 and 2006 when it was high. The 2005 and 2006 juvenile arrests were accompanied with fears that the country was nearly falling into juvenile crime wave. However, the 2008 juvenile crime data also showed an increase in certain offense categories but a decline in most offenses i.e. 10% increase or decrease.

The juvenile crimes data was based on statistics obtained from law enforcement agencies throughout the country based on report from the Uniform Crime Reporting Program by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In addition to these statistics, the UCR Program also reported people below 18 years accounted for 16% of all arrests associated with violent crime and 26% of property crime arrests throughout the country. People below 18 years old were responsible for 12% and 18% of violent crimes and property crimes respectively. Even though the proportion of juvenile murder victims differed across demographic serious, 38% of them were below 5 years.

As compared to 2004, the rate of juvenile murder was 3.8 arrests in every 100,000 juveniles between 10 and 17 years. Generally, there was an estimated 16,720 juvenile murders that were reported to police agencies during this period. This was a representation of 5.4 murders for every 100,000 American residents. Moreover, 89% of all murder victims in this year were at least 18 years old and the rest were below 18 years. Notably, 70% of juvenile murder victims were male whereas 50% were white people. 30%, 57%, 44%, and 30% of all juvenile murder victims during this period were male victims, female victims, white victims, and black victims below 5 years respectively.

Increase in Drug Offenses and Simple Assaults:

According to reports by FBI's UCR Program, drug abuse violations accounted for the most frequent juvenile arrests in 2008 ("2008 Crime in the United States," 2009). Actually, drug abuse related cases or offenses accounted for 12.2% of the overall number of arrests in that year. Juveniles were frequently arrested for sale, manufacturing, and possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, synthetic or manufactured drugs, and non-narcotic drugs. The most common simple assaults that juveniles were arrested for include offenses against children and family, drunkenness, vagrancy, and inappropriate conduct. Notably, rate of juvenile arrests for simple assault increased considerably as compared to the 1980 arrest rate.

Implications for Juvenile Females and Members of Ethnic and Racial Minorities:

While juvenile arrests decreased significantly in 2008, these rates had considerable implications for juvenile females and members of ethnic and racial minorities. The implications for female offenders were attributed to the fact that they accounted for a greater percentage of juvenile arrests in comparison to 1999. Female offenders constituted 30% of all juvenile arrests though these arrests decreased as compared to male arrests in many crime categories. For racial and ethnic minorities, the implications were based on the disproportionate composition of these arrests across racial and ethnic groups. The 2008 United States juvenile population between 10 and 17 years was 78%, 16%, 5%, and 1% white, black, Asian Pacific/Islander, and American Indian offenders respectively. This data implies that female offenders and members of ethnic and racial groups were increasingly likely to be arrested or be involved in crime. The data on female juvenile rates shows that females are increasingly becoming violent despite the complexities in interpretations of arrest data due to differences in policy (Cauffmann, 2008).

Tracking Juvenile Arrests:

Juvenile arrests have widely been used as a means of evaluating the amount of and trends in juvenile crime. The process of tracking these arrests have provided been effective in providing insights that the juvenile justice system can use to examine how many offenses occur annually and the specific trends. Through evaluating these arrests, the juvenile justice system and law enforcement agencies can develop appropriate measures that help in reducing the rate of juvenile offenses and their impact. Data on juvenile arrests can be used to develop and establish reform and crime fighting initiatives. Some of the reform initiatives that have been developed based on these reports includes enhancing access to mental health services, serving needs of young people in the juvenile justice system, and developing alternatives to the conventional residential placement facilities. In essence, effective treatment and rehabilitative services can assist juveniles in the justice system to become productive members in the society.