Juvenile Crime Statistics Paper - Essay Example

Running head: Juvenile Crime Statistics Paper Juvenile Crime Statistics Paper Introduction The decline in crime rate during the 2008 period was noted by the FBI who are responsible for assessing trends in crimes. This body monitored four offenses that are consistently reported by law enforcers. The decline in juvenile crime was assessed based on assault, robbery, forcible rape murder and manslaughter. Puzzanchera (2009) indicates that there was an increase in juvenile crimes during the period 2004-2006 and a decline in these crimes in 2008.

This paper is going to highlight the overall decrease in juvenile arrests in 2008.DiscussionDuring 2008, agencies concerned with the enforcement of law made arrests over 2 million arrests of persons that were below the age of 18. This figure was significantly less than the one recorded in previous years. There was an increase in juvenile crimes in 2005, 2006, and 2007, which made the law enforcers fear that the nation would witness a severe crime wave. The crime data collected in 2008 indicated that violent crimes had declined and young adults were being involved in simple assaults and drug offenses.

According to Puzzanchera, (2009), most juveniles were being arrested for commission of crimes such as larceny, simple and aggravated assault. Minor crimes that were committed by juveniles during 2008 were property crimes. In relation to this, the FBI assesses trends in property crimes by monitoring offences such as theft of motor vehicle, larceny and burglary. These crimes increased during 2007-2008. According to Puzzanchera (2009), the number of juvenile female who were involved in the commission of crimes increased in 2008.

Law enforcers were able to arrest over 600,000 females who were below the age of 18. During this year, females were arrested for robbery, simple assault, larceny and disorderly conduct. Moreover, during 2008, more female juveniles were arrested for commission of larceny whereas there was a decline in the number of males committing larceny.Puzzanchera (2009) indicates that minorities were highly involved in the commission of the aforementioned crimes. In all cases in which juveniles were arrested for the commission of violent crimes, half of the crimes involved black youth, 1% involved youth of Asian origin, 47% involved white juveniles and 1% involved youth of American Indian origin.

In the commission of property crimes, two thirds of the arrested juveniles were white, while the rest were blacks with an insignificant number of Asian and Indian youth. In general, youths of black origin where represented in all instances of juvenile arrests.In 2008, juveniles were involved in 16% of all crime arrests that were concerned with violence. Moreover, the juveniles were also responsible for 26% of arrests for property crimes. In addition, juveniles had a role in the commission of 12% of all the violent crimes and 18% of crimes related to property theft, which were cleared in 2008.

During the particular year, 11% of murder victims were less than 18 years of age. 38% victims of juvenile murder were aged below 18 years. However, this proportion varied across groups (Puzzanchera, 2009). During 2008, the rate for murder arrests was 3.8 for every 100,000 juveniles who were aged between 10 and 17. This rate was more than the rate in 2004 which was 3.3 but less that the peak rate in 1993, which was 14.4. . The period 1999-2008 saw the number of juveniles arrested for aggravated assault decrease for males in comparison to the females.

Moreover, this period recorded a decline in the number of juvenile males who were arrested for simple assaults while the female arrests for the same crime increased by 12%. The aforementioned arrest statistics indicate the number of arrest statistics, which were made during a particular year (Puzzanchera, 2009).Conclusion In summary, in 2008, there was a significant reduction in crimes committed by juveniles. This decline was noted by law enforcers who indicated that there was a decline in the commission of crimes such as assault, robbery, forcible rape and murder by juveniles.

During this year, juveniles were more involved in less severe crimes such as drug offenses and simple assaults. This paper has highlighted the decline in juvenile arrests in 2008. Female juveniles were arrested in 2008 following the commission of crimes such as larceny and assault. Minorities were also implicated in the crime reports with black juveniles committing almost half of all crimes in 2008. ReferencesPuzzanchera, C. (2009, December). Juvenile Arrests 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2012, from U.S. Department of Justice: http://www.ncjj.org/pdf/228479.pdf