Persons Arrested

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Definition

The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program counts one arrest for each separate instance in which a person is arrested, cited, or summoned for an offense. The Program collects arrest data on 29 offenses, as described in Offense Definitions. Because a person may be arrested multiple times during the year, the UCR arrest figures do not reflect the number of individual people who have been arrested. Rather, the arrest data show the number of times that persons are arrested, as reported by law enforcement agencies to the UCR Program.

Data collection

The UCR Program considers a juvenile to be an individual under 18 years of age regardless of the state definition. The Program does not collect data regarding police contact with a juvenile who has not committed an offense, nor does it collect data on situations in which police take a juvenile into custody for his or her own protection, e.g., neglect cases.

Overview

In 2005, the FBI estimated that 14,094,186 arrests occurred nationwide for all offenses (except traffic violations), of which 603,503 were for violent crimes, and 1,609,327 for property crimes.
Law enforcement officers made more arrests for drug abuse violations in 2005 (an estimated 1.8 million arrests, or 13.1 percent of the total) than for any other offense.
Nationwide, the 2005 rate of arrests was estimated at 4,761.6 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants; for violent crime, the estimate was 204.8 per 100,000; and for property crime, the estimate was 549.1 per 100,000.
Although the number of arrests in 2005 increased only a slight 0.2 percent from the 2004 figure, arrests for murder rose 7.3 percent.
Arrests of juveniles (under 18 years of age) for murder climbed 19.9 percent in 2005 compared with 2004 arrest data; for robbery, arrests of juveniles rose 11.4 percent over the same 2-year period.
In 2005, 76.2 percent of all persons arrested were male, 82.1 percent of persons arrested for violent crime were male, and 68.0 percent of persons arrested for property crime were male.
Among the four categories of race reflected in UCR arrest data, 69.8 percent of all persons arrested were white, 59.0 percent of persons arrested for violent crime were white, and 68.8 percent of persons arrested for property crime were white.
White juveniles comprised 67.5 percent of all juveniles arrested in 2005 and 67.2 percent of juveniles arrested for property crime.
Black juveniles comprised 49.8 percent of all juveniles arrested in 2005 for violent crime.

Expanded arrest data

Expanded data about arrests include information about the age, gender, and race of the arrestees. These data are available in the following tables:

Age: Tables 32, 34, 36, 38, 41, 44, 46, 47, 50, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 62, 64, and 65

Gender: Tables 33, 35, 37, 39, 40, 42, 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, 60, 63, and 66

Race: Tables 43, 49, 55, 61, and 67

Arrest Table

Arrests for Drug Abuse Violations

Percent Distribution within Region, 2005

Drug abuse violations		United States total	Northeast	Midwest	South	West
Total¹		100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Sale/Manufacturing:	Total	18.3	23.7	18.5	19.5	14.6
	Heroin or cocaine and their derivatives	8.0	15.5	5.5	8.4	5.3
	Marijuana	4.9	6.0	7.3	4.6	3.8
	Synthetic or manufactured drugs	1.4	0.9	1.2	2.6	0.6
	Other dangerous nonnarcotic drugs	4.0	1.4	4.4	4.0	5.0
Possession:	Total	81.7	76.3	81.5	80.5	85.4
	Heroin or cocaine and their derivatives	22.2	25.1	15.8	22.8	22.9
	Marijuana	37.7	42.0	47.5	44.7	24.3
	Synthetic or manufactured drugs	3.4	1.9	3.3	4.5	3.2
	Other dangerous nonnarcotic drugs	18.3	7.3	14.9	8.6	34.9

¹ Because of rounding, the percentages may not add to 100.0.

What you won't find on this page

The number of persons who were convicted, prosecuted, and/or imprisoned. The UCR Program does not collect this information.
Ethnic origin of persons arrested

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Arrest Data Tables

Table 29
Table 30
Table 31
Table 32
Table 33
Table 34
Table 35
Table 36
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Table 38
Table 39
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Table 41
Table 42
Table 43
Table 44
Table 45
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Table 47
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Table 49
Table 50
Table 51
Table 52
Table 53
Table 54
Table 55
Table 56
Table 57
Table 58
Table 59
Table 60
Table 61
Table 62
Table 63
Table 64
Table 65
Table 66
Table 67
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Table 69
Table Guide

Crime in the United States 2005

Department of Justice — Federal Bureau of Investigation

Release Date: September 2006