Juvenile Justice FAQ's

• Q: How many juvenile arrests take place each year?
  
  A: In 1993, the latest year that statistics are available, 2,014,472 juvenile arrests were made by law enforcement agencies.
  Source: U.S.Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Crime in the United States, 1993: Uniform Crime Reports," December, 1994.
  
  
• Q: How many juvenile arrests occur for violent crimes each year?
  
  A: In 1993, the latest year that statistics are available, the total number of juvenile arrests for all violent crimes was 119,678. The violent crime breakdown is as follows:
  Homicide & non-negligent manslaughter: 3,284
  Forcible Rape: 5,303
  Robbery: 43,340
  Aggravated Assault: 67,751
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Crime in the United States, 1993: Uniform Crime Reports," December, 1994.
  
  
• Q: How many juvenile property crime arrests take place each year?
  
  A: In 1993, the latest year that statistics are available, the total number of juvenile arrests for all property crime was 591,238. The property crime breakdown is as follows:
  Burglary 116,024
  Larceny-theft 391,950
  Auto Theft 75,315
  Arson 7,949
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Crime in the United States, 1993: Uniform Crime Reports," December, 1994.
  
  
• Q: How many cases are referred to juvenile court each year?
  
  A: In 1992, the latest year that data are available, there were 1,471,200 cases referred to juvenile court. In 1991, 1,338,100 cases were referred to juvenile court.
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, "Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court 1992" and "Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court 1991," 1994.
  
  
• Q: How many juvenile court cases in 1992 involved crimes committed against persons? Against property? Involved a drug law violation?
  
  A:
  Persons 301,000
  Property 842,200
  Involved a drug law violation 72,100
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, "Delinquency Cases in Juvenile Court, 1992," 1994.
  
  
• Q: How many juveniles were waived/transferred to adult court?
  
  A: In 1992, the latest year that statistics are available, 11,700 delinquency cases were judicially waived to the adult criminal court. This represented 1.6 percent of all formally processed delinquency cases.
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, "How Juveniles Get to Criminal Court," (NCJ 150309) 1994.
  
  
• Q: How many juveniles are in custody?
  
  A: In 1991, there were 57,542 juveniles held in custody in public facilities (includes detention, correctional or shelter facilities). Of these, 51,214 were males and 6,328 were females. (These figures do not include juveniles housed in adult jails, prisons, or adult lockups.)
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, "Children in Custody 1991: Public Facilities," 1993.
  
  
• Q: What percentage of students carry a gun?
  
  A: Among a survey of inner-city high school students, 35 percent carried firearms regularly or occasionally. Additionally, 3 percent of students reported carrying a gun to school "all" or "most of the time" and an additional 6 percent did so "now and then".
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, "Gun Acquisition and Possession in Selected Juvenile Samples," (NCJ#145326) 1993.
  
  
• Q: How many gangs are there in America?
  
  A: As there is no national reporting system, precise information is unavailable--only estimates based on irregular primarily urban surveys. The most recent estimate (1991) is 4,881 gangs with 249,324 members. This information is based on Curry's law enforcement survey, published in 1993.
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, "Gangs," 1994.
  
  
• Q: Is there a link between child abuse or neglect and subsequent juvenile delinquency?
  
  A: Research sponsored by the National Institute of Justice found that childhood abuse increased the odds of future delinquency and adult criminality overall by 40 percent. Being abused or neglected as a child increased the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 percent, as an adult by 38 percent, and for a violent crime by 38 percent.
  Source: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, "The Cycle of Violence," 1992.