Persons Arrested

Download Printable Document
Download Arrest Table Excel

Definition

The FBI’s 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 a year, the UCR arrest figures do not reflect the number of individuals 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—juveniles

The UCR Program considers a juvenile to be an individual under 18 years of age regardless of 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 2007, the FBI estimated that 14,209,365 arrests occurred nationwide for all offenses (except traffic violations), of which 597,447 were for violent crimes, and 1,610,088 were for property crimes.
• Law enforcement made more arrests for drug abuse violations (an estimated 1.8 million arrests, or 13.0 percent of the total number of arrests) than for any other offense in 2007. (Based on Table 29.)
• Nationwide, the 2007 rate of arrests was estimated at 4,743.3 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants; for violent crime, the estimate was 200.2 per 100,000; and for property crime, the estimate was 544.1 per 100,000. (See Table 30.)
• The number of arrests for violent crimes decreased 1.1 percent in 2007 when compared with arrest data from 2006.
• The number of arrests for property crime increased 5.4 percent in 2007 when compared to 2006 arrest figures.
• Arrests of juveniles (under 18 years of age) for murder rose 2.8 percent in 2007 when compared with 2006 arrest data.
• Arrests of juveniles for motor vehicle theft decreased 14.0 percent over the same 2-year period. (See Table 36.)
• In 2007, 75.8 percent of all persons arrested were male, 81.8 percent of persons arrested for violent crime were male, and 66.6 percent of persons arrested for property crime were male. (See Table 42.)
• The majority (69.7 percent) of persons arrested in 2007 were white. Whites accounted for 58.9 and 67.9 percent of persons arrested for violent crimes and property crimes, respectively.
• White juveniles comprised 67.0 percent of juveniles arrested in 2007.
• Black juveniles accounted for 50.7 percent of juveniles arrested for violent crime, and white juveniles comprised 65.7 percent of juveniles arrested for property crime. (See Table 43.)

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, 39, 40, 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 by Region, 2007

Drug abuse violations		United States total	Northeast	Midwest	South	West
Total1		100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Sale/ Manufacturing:	Total	17.5	22.5	18.3	17.1	15.0
	Heroin or cocaine and their derivatives	7.9	14.2	6.2	7.9	5.5
	Marijuana	5.3	5.7	7.7	4.6	4.7
	Synthetic or manufactured drugs	1.5	1.1	1.1	2.6	0.7
	Other dangerous nonnarcotic drugs	2.8	1.6	3.3	2.0	4.2
Possession:	Total	82.5	77.5	81.7	82.9	85.0
	Heroin or cocaine and their derivatives	21.5	22.3	14.7	22.8	22.7
	Marijuana	42.1	44.2	53.1	47.9	29.6
	Synthetic or manufactured drugs	3.3	2.3	3.2	4.3	2.8
	Other dangerous nonnarcotic drugs	15.6	8.6	10.7	7.8	29.9

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

September 2008