Table 27

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means
Additional Information About Selected Offenses
by Population Group, 2005

Population group		Forcible rape		Robbery				Aggravated assault				Burglary			Motor vehicle theft			Arson¹			Number of agencies	2005 estimated population
Population group		Rape by force	Assault to rape-attempts	Firearm	Knife or cutting instrument	Other weapon	Strongarm	Firearm	Knife or cutting instrument	Other weapon	Hands, fists, feet, etc.	Forcible entry	Unlawful entry	Attempted forcible entry	Autos	Trucks and buses	Other vehicles	Structure	Mobile	Other	Number of agencies	2005 estimated population
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Offenses known	67,493	6,222	132,031	27,935	29,011	121,805	138,849	122,687	215,803	164,511	1,036,237	554,943	107,005	745,304	174,409	88,159	25,494	17,189	16,422	12,816	233,548,794
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Percent cleared by arrest	40.3	42.9	19.9	28.4	27.0	29.9	38.6	61.2	55.5	63.2	12.2	13.9	10.5	13.3	11.1	10.6	22.4	7.5	21.2
TOTAL CITIES	Offenses known	50,545	4,940	114,236	24,762	25,078	109,155	111,839	98,831	167,195	118,729	773,221	410,804	83,648	617,641	139,395	60,826	19,238	12,012	12,109	9,275	155,939,999
TOTAL CITIES	Percent cleared by arrest	39.3	42.3	19.8	27.8	26.6	29.4	35.5	59.9	53.8	62.3	11.7	13.6	10.2	12.3	10.2	9.5	21.8	6.8	21.0
GROUP I (all cities 250,000 and over)	Offenses known	15,972	2,049	65,852	11,994	11,964	53,377	60,985	40,164	69,620	31,109	285,613	114,774	25,315	281,872	80,786	26,488	7,341	6,135	3,697	60	38,622,134
GROUP I (all cities 250,000 and over)	Percent cleared by arrest	38.4	39.0	17.2	24.0	21.3	25.3	29.6	55.4	48.4	56.4	9.6	11.3	9.1	9.9	7.6	6.2	16.9	4.4	17.0
1,000,000 and over (Group 1 subset)	Offenses known	4,856	825	25,025	5,256	4,241	19,101	21,424	13,833	21,653	9,505	92,544	36,896	6,466	93,184	37,905	8,334	2,217	2,545	1,283	8	13,896,753
1,000,000 and over (Group 1 subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	43.7	42.5	16.8	21.9	22.9	27.7	27.3	51.1	46.4	66.4	9.8	11.7	11.8	9.8	5.0	5.7	15.8	3.0	8.7
500,000 to 999,999 (Group 1 subset)	Offenses known	5,685	688	24,149	3,775	4,367	17,058	22,362	14,611	25,572	11,358	106,593	40,277	12,153	102,407	20,597	12,873	2,330	1,605	1,226	20	12,986,164
500,000 to 999,999 (Group 1 subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	34.3	33.6	15.0	23.5	19.9	21.3	28.6	53.9	43.9	45.2	8.8	9.0	7.4	9.7	9.7	4.4	23.2	6.9	21.8
250,000 to 499,999 (Group 1 subset)	Offenses known	5,431	536	16,678	2,963	3,356	17,218	17,199	11,720	22,395	10,246	86,476	37,601	6,696	86,281	22,284	5,281	2,794	1,985	1,188	32	11,739,217
250,000 to 499,999 (Group 1 subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	37.9	40.7	21.1	28.1	21.2	26.5	33.9	62.4	55.3	59.5	10.4	13.6	9.7	10.3	10.2	11.6	12.5	4.4	21.1
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Offenses known	7,697	721	18,842	4,398	4,633	18,096	17,897	16,996	29,612	15,717	127,387	65,229	13,802	112,774	22,662	8,943	3,103	1,907	1,880	153	22,995,788
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	39.1	39.4	20.3	28.5	27.0	29.5	35.7	60.1	53.5	57.9	10.8	12.3	8.9	10.8	10.7	9.1	19.3	6.0	20.9
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Offenses known	8,365	615	12,659	3,609	3,455	16,053	13,217	14,753	24,876	19,069	119,718	70,579	14,884	88,349	15,423	7,927	2,636	1,572	1,913	386	26,419,259
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	38.3	45.5	22.7	30.3	30.0	32.9	39.6	62.1	58.1	62.2	11.8	13.5	10.3	11.9	11.6	9.6	23.3	7.1	20.6
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Offenses known	6,892	517	7,570	2,235	2,516	9,848	8,130	10,218	16,733	15,811	88,647	56,037	11,294	59,186	8,051	6,317	2,150	1,004	1,910	676	23,326,602
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	37.9	43.1	25.4	33.1	31.2	34.7	45.3	63.6	58.2	64.8	11.9	14.0	10.2	15.4	16.6	11.3	23.4	9.6	21.2
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Offenses known	6,284	512	5,754	1,570	1,570	7,150	6,213	8,659	13,907	15,852	81,678	53,034	9,685	44,359	7,304	5,664	1,970	805	1,400	1,523	24,125,328
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	41.6	45.7	27.9	37.5	40.8	37.4	53.0	65.1	61.2	68.0	15.5	16.6	12.1	19.5	18.2	14.9	30.2	13.4	29.1
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Offenses known	5,335	526	3,559	956	940	4,631	5,397	8,041	12,447	21,171	70,178	51,151	8,668	31,101	5,169	5,487	2,038	589	1,309	6,477	20,450,888
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Percent cleared by arrest	42.8	50.8	28.9	36.1	42.8	39.8	55.6	67.7	61.8	68.2	16.7	16.7	12.7	25.3	22.4	18.3	31.3	19.7	24.1
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Offenses known	11,346	853	16,449	2,799	3,430	11,307	20,508	18,398	37,300	30,464	180,714	102,538	17,313	106,607	29,311	19,888	4,287	4,358	3,295	1,423	53,580,983
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent cleared by arrest	42.3	46.1	18.8	30.8	28.7	33.4	48.0	65.9	61.3	64.8	12.8	14.4	11.3	15.7	12.7	11.3	23.3	7.7	20.5
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Offenses known	5,602	429	1,346	374	503	1,343	6,502	5,458	11,308	15,318	82,302	41,601	6,044	21,056	5,703	7,445	1,969	819	1,018	2,118	24,027,812
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent cleared by arrest	45.5	44.3	38.1	48.1	39.4	44.8	63.0	68.3	62.5	66.6	16.5	15.8	13.4	28.3	25.3	17.9	26.5	16.2	25.3
SUBURBAN AREA²	Offenses known	21,614	1,758	27,926	5,779	6,586	25,282	30,978	32,837	62,661	61,279	320,813	199,988	36,066	205,354	43,637	31,725	7,910	5,849	6,384	6,682	100,648,330
SUBURBAN AREA²	Percent cleared by arrest	41.5	47.1	21.1	31.9	32.4	34.9	48.2	65.6	61.2	66.0	13.2	14.9	11.3	16.0	13.8	12.1	25.2	8.8	22.0

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. Agencies must report arson clearances by detailed property classification as specified on the Monthly Return of Arson Offenses Known to Law Enforcement to be included in this table; therefore, clearances in this table may differ from other clearance tables.
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.