Table 28

Number of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means
Percent of Clearances Involving Persons Under 18 Years of Age
by Population Group, 2007

Population group		Violent crime	Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter	Forcible rape	Robbery	Aggravated assault	Property crime	Burglary	Larceny- theft	Motor vehicle theft	Arson¹	Number of agencies	2007 estimated population
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Total clearances	465,584	7,794	27,472	84,796	345,522	1,263,199	208,392	946,493	108,314	10,546	13,140	236,796,743
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Percent under 18	12.3	5.6	11.8	16.4	11.5	18.4	16.5	19.1	15.3	39.6
TOTAL CITIES	Total clearances	358,932	6,036	20,247	74,303	258,346	1,010,257	150,866	777,869	81,522	7,695	9,455	158,743,924
TOTAL CITIES	Percent under 18	12.5	5.5	11.1	16.6	11.6	19.0	16.7	19.8	15.8	41.9
GROUP I (250,000 and over)	Total clearances	131,203	2,825	6,989	33,315	88,074	242,879	39,253	172,267	31,359	2,262	62	39,177,864
GROUP I (250,000 and over)	Percent under 18	11.2	5.6	8.4	15.9	9.8	16.5	15.0	17.0	15.4	37.3
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset)	Total clearances	43,355	1,164	2,473	13,472	26,246	78,116	11,288	55,423	11,405	644	8	14,175,600
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset)	Percent under 18	11.0	5.6	7.1	16.2	9.0	14.5	14.8	14.6	13.6	38.0
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset)	Total clearances	46,271	837	2,282	10,239	32,913	82,229	13,575	57,650	11,004	878	20	13,096,918
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset)	Percent under 18	11.5	4.8	9.4	15.9	10.4	16.9	16.3	17.0	17.0	35.4
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset)	Total clearances	41,577	824	2,234	9,604	28,915	82,534	14,390	59,194	8,950	740	34	11,905,346
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset)	Percent under 18	11.1	6.3	8.9	15.5	10.0	17.9	14.0	19.1	15.8	38.8
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Total clearances	59,554	1,110	3,265	13,167	42,012	156,678	23,860	120,463	12,355	1,112	156	23,488,164
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Percent under 18	12.7	5.2	12.2	18.4	11.1	21.2	18.8	22.0	17.8	36.9
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Total clearances	54,183	736	2,885	10,847	39,715	177,350	26,401	139,173	11,776	1,147	402	27,807,428
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Percent under 18	13.8	6.4	13.2	17.3	13.1	21.4	16.4	22.8	16.1	49.9
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Total clearances	41,108	538	2,501	7,509	30,560	150,270	19,581	122,113	8,576	1,040	695	24,027,023
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Percent under 18	13.5	5.6	12.0	17.4	12.8	21.0	17.1	21.9	16.3	42.8
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Total clearances	37,909	480	2,496	5,937	28,996	151,921	21,381	121,459	9,081	1,037	1,496	23,778,344
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Percent under 18	12.9	5.4	12.7	14.5	12.7	18.1	17.0	18.6	14.3	47.1
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Total clearances	34,975	347	2,111	3,528	28,989	131,159	20,390	102,394	8,375	1,097	6,644	20,465,101
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Percent under 18	13.1	4.6	12.6	15.5	13.0	16.6	17.4	16.6	14.7	42.2
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Total clearances	78,765	1,258	4,812	9,118	63,577	188,170	38,852	129,647	19,671	1,958	1,479	53,819,257
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent under 18	12.6	6.4	13.1	16.6	12.1	16.4	16.5	16.8	14.1	39.8
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Total clearances	27,887	500	2,413	1,375	23,599	64,772	18,674	38,977	7,121	893	2,206	24,233,562
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent under 18	9.0	4.4	14.4	6.9	8.7	13.9	14.5	13.6	13.9	19.4
SUBURBAN AREA²	Total clearances	144,646	1,989	8,843	19,890	113,924	447,070	74,616	336,596	35,858	3,862	6,782	101,007,098
SUBURBAN AREA²	Percent under 18	13.4	6.0	12.7	17.1	13.0	18.1	17.2	18.7	14.2	43.9

¹ Not all agencies submit reports for arson to the FBI. As a result, the number of reports the FBI uses to compute the percent of offenses cleared for arson is less than the number it uses to compute the percent of offenses cleared for all other offenses.
² Suburban area includes law enforcement agencies in cities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and county law enforcement agencies that are within a Metropolitan Statistical Area. Suburban area excludes all metropolitan agencies associated with a principal city. The agencies associated with suburban areas also appear in other groups within this table.

Data Declaration

Provides the methodology used in constructing this table and other pertinent information about this table.

Overview

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Nationwide in 2007, 12.3 percent of clearances for violent crime offenses involved only juveniles (individuals under age 18), and 18.4 percent of clearances for property crime offenses involved only juveniles.
Of the six city population groups, cities with 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants had the highest percentage of clearances for violent crime involving only juveniles (13.8 percent). Cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants had the lowest percentage of clearances for violent crimes involving only juveniles (11.2 percent).
For property crime, 21.4 percent of reported clearances in cities with populations of 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants involved only juveniles, the highest percentage of the six city population groups. The lowest percentage, 16.5 percent, was reported in cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants.
In the Nation’s metropolitan counties, juveniles were the sole offenders in 12.6 percent of clearances for violent crimes and 16.4 percent of clearances for property crimes. In the Nation’s nonmetropolitan counties, 9.0 percent of clearances for violent crimes and 13.9 percent of clearances for property crimes involved only juveniles.
Of the offenses for which law enforcement reported clearance data, arson had the highest percentage of clearances involving only juveniles—39.6 percent— nationally in 2007. Larceny-theft and burglary had the second and third highest percentages of clearances involving only juveniles at 19.1 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively.
Among the six city population groups, clearances for arson offenses involving only juveniles ranged from a high of 49.9 percent in cities with 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants to a low of 36.9 percent in cities with 100,000 to 249,999 inhabitants.
Law enforcement agencies in the Nation’s metropolitan counties reported that 39.8 percent of arson clearances involved only juveniles; those in nonmetropolitan counties reported that 19.4 percent involved only juveniles.