Table 26

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means
by Geographic Region and Division, 2005

Geographic region/division		Violent crime	Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter	Forcible rape	Robbery	Aggravated assault	Property crime	Burglary	Larceny-theft	Motor vehicle theft	Arson¹	Number of agencies	2005 estimated population
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Offenses known	1,197,089	14,430	82,118	353,050	747,491	8,935,714	1,906,980	5,915,843	1,112,891	64,231	13,441	255,115,278
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Percent cleared by arrest	45.5	62.1	41.3	25.4	55.2	16.3	12.7	18.0	13.0	17.9
NORTHEAST	Offenses known	148,627	1,784	9,802	52,664	84,377	1,002,214	192,139	706,196	103,879	7,063	2,807	43,165,366
NORTHEAST	Percent cleared by arrest	48.6	64.1	47.3	28.2	61.1	19.7	16.2	21.5	14.2	21.6
NEW ENGLAND	Offenses known	39,578	319	3,199	11,177	24,883	302,563	60,178	210,215	32,170	1,714	791	12,887,457
NEW ENGLAND	Percent cleared by arrest	46.7	53.0	34.1	25.0	58.0	15.2	13.1	16.4	11.1	21.0
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Offenses known	109,049	1,465	6,603	41,487	59,494	699,651	131,961	495,981	71,709	5,349	2,016	30,277,909
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Percent cleared by arrest	49.2	66.5	53.7	29.0	62.4	21.7	17.5	23.6	15.6	21.8
MIDWEST	Offenses known	188,682	2,274	17,901	56,478	112,029	1,596,229	328,166	1,095,967	172,096	12,963	3,285	47,290,797
MIDWEST	Percent cleared by arrest	39.9	53.9	33.6	21.7	49.8	15.8	11.0	17.7	12.7	17.4
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	119,145	1,562	11,410	40,699	65,474	965,852	210,382	643,680	111,790	8,296	1,488	28,465,120
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	34.8	49.2	30.6	20.1	44.3	14.5	10.3	16.5	11.2	16.6
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	69,537	712	6,491	15,779	46,555	630,377	117,784	452,287	60,306	4,667	1,797	18,825,677
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	48.7	64.3	38.8	25.8	57.5	17.7	12.2	19.4	15.5	18.9
SOUTH	Offenses known	552,487	6,573	33,266	152,310	360,338	3,902,700	898,300	2,613,661	390,739	23,994	5,469	99,921,080
SOUTH	Percent cleared by arrest	47.1	69.1	45.4	25.7	55.8	16.8	13.2	18.2	15.7	19.1
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Offenses known	307,591	3,543	16,083	88,060	199,905	2,023,522	458,816	1,343,997	220,709	11,752	2,734	53,498,221
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Percent cleared by arrest	48.9	67.1	49.5	26.1	58.6	17.9	15.0	19.1	16.4	20.2
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	69,746	874	4,947	18,024	45,901	506,844	124,804	338,157	43,883	2,717	1,110	14,022,972
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	45.4	69.8	37.1	25.8	53.5	16.6	12.0	18.4	16.2	19.1
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	175,150	2,156	12,236	46,226	114,532	1,372,334	314,680	931,507	126,147	9,525	1,625	32,399,887
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	44.5	72.2	43.4	24.9	51.9	15.3	11.2	16.9	14.3	17.9
WEST	Offenses known	307,293	3,799	21,149	91,598	190,747	2,434,571	488,375	1,500,019	446,177	20,211	1,880	64,738,035
WEST	Percent cleared by arrest	44.7	53.9	38.6	25.4	54.4	14.3	11.6	16.4	10.3	15.5
MOUNTAIN	Offenses known	85,359	1,045	7,626	20,345	56,343	781,759	155,490	500,382	125,887	4,915	749	19,061,511
MOUNTAIN	Percent cleared by arrest	43.6	56.9	32.8	21.6	52.7	15.6	11.3	18.1	11.1	20.2
PACIFIC	Offenses known	221,934	2,754	13,523	71,253	134,404	1,652,812	332,885	999,637	320,290	15,296	1,131	45,676,524
PACIFIC	Percent cleared by arrest	45.1	52.7	41.9	26.5	55.1	13.7	11.8	15.6	10.0	13.9
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.

Data Declaration

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Overview

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Nationwide in 2005, law enforcement agencies cleared 45.5 percent of violent crimes by arrest or by exceptional means. By region, law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared 48.6 percent of their violent crimes; in the South, 47.1 percent; in the West, 44.7 percent; and in the Midwest, 39.9 percent.
In 2005, law enforcement agencies in the Nation cleared 16.3 percent of property crime offenses by arrest or by exceptional means. By region, agencies in the Northeast cleared 19.7 percent of the property crimes; agencies in the South cleared 16.8 percent. Agencies in the Midwest and West cleared 15.8 percent and 14.3 percent of property crime offenses, respectively.
Among the four regions, law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared the highest percentage of three of the four violent offenses: 47.3 percent of forcible rapes, 28.2 percent of robberies, and 61.1 percent of aggravated assaults. Law enforcement agencies in the South cleared the highest percentage of murders: 69.1 percent.
Among the four regions, law enforcement agencies in the Northeast also cleared the highest percentage of three of the four property crimes: 16.2 percent of burglaries, 21.5 percent of larceny-thefts, and 21.6 percent of arson offenses. Law enforcement agencies in the South cleared the highest percentage of motor vehicle thefts: 15.7 percent.