Table 28

Number of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means
Percent of Clearances Involving Persons Under 18 Years of Age
by Population Group, 2005

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	2005 estimated population
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Total clearances	452,474	7,720	28,864	75,689	340,201	1,258,838	206,502	929,087	123,249	10,444	12,523	226,239,464
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Percent under 18	12.4	4.9	11.4	15.1	12.0	17.9	15.6	18.8	15.2	42.2
TOTAL CITIES	Total clearances	346,499	5,848	21,168	65,784	253,699	1,006,002	148,963	763,999	93,040	7,508	9,087	151,688,470
TOTAL CITIES	Percent under 18	12.6	5.2	10.7	15.3	12.3	18.6	15.8	19.5	15.6	45.5
GROUP I (all cities 250,000 and over)	Total clearances	125,020	2,740	6,563	28,770	86,947	241,619	40,691	166,378	34,550	2,055	58	37,271,309
GROUP I (all cities 250,000 and over)	Percent under 18	11.3	5.9	7.8	15.2	10.5	16.2	13.9	16.7	16.2	45.6
1,000,000 and over (Group 1 subset)	Total clearances	44,544	1,164	2,473	11,632	29,275	81,431	14,179	55,802	11,450	538	8	13,896,753
1,000,000 and over (Group 1 subset)	Percent under 18	11.0	6.1	8.2	15.0	9.8	14.4	11.5	15.4	13.3	40.1
500,000 to 999,999 (Group 1 subset)	Total clearances	36,104	740	1,813	7,513	26,038	73,189	11,771	50,142	11,276	827	18	11,635,339
500,000 to 999,999 (Group 1 subset)	Percent under 18	11.7	6.4	7.2	15.4	11.1	16.1	14.7	15.9	18.0	51.4
250,000 to 499,999 (Group 1 subset)	Total clearances	44,372	836	2,277	9,625	31,634	86,999	14,741	60,434	11,824	690	32	11,739,217
250,000 to 499,999 (Group 1 subset)	Percent under 18	11.3	5.1	7.9	15.3	10.5	18.0	15.7	18.7	17.4	42.9
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Total clearances	56,155	1,077	3,218	11,431	40,429	152,277	22,355	114,985	14,937	1,110	149	22,382,393
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Percent under 18	12.4	5.4	9.9	15.7	11.9	19.6	16.1	20.7	16.2	47.0
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Total clearances	53,935	711	3,348	10,016	39,860	169,971	24,376	132,863	12,732	1,132	378	25,953,754
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Percent under 18	13.7	4.4	12.1	16.3	13.3	20.8	15.7	22.2	15.8	47.2
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Total clearances	39,868	511	2,812	6,801	29,744	150,274	19,190	120,184	10,900	1,007	662	22,887,459
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Percent under 18	14.0	4.9	12.4	16.7	13.7	20.4	17.2	21.4	15.9	49.9
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Total clearances	35,334	442	2,741	5,270	26,881	156,919	21,791	124,793	10,335	1,121	1,460	23,184,349
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Percent under 18	13.5	4.8	13.0	13.1	13.8	18.4	15.8	19.2	14.1	44.7
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Total clearances	36,187	367	2,486	3,496	29,838	134,942	20,560	104,796	9,586	1,083	6,380	20,009,206
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Percent under 18	13.6	1.6	13.3	13.6	13.8	17.2	17.8	17.4	13.7	38.8
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Total clearances	77,740	1,257	5,065	8,529	62,889	185,194	37,918	125,432	21,844	2,013	1,378	51,626,291
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent under 18	12.5	4.4	12.8	14.5	12.3	15.7	15.6	16.0	14.1	37.1
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Total clearances	28,235	615	2,631	1,376	23,613	67,642	19,621	39,656	8,365	923	2,058	22,924,703
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent under 18	9.3	3.1	14.2	8.6	9.0	13.3	13.9	12.9	13.6	26.0
SUBURBAN AREA²	Total clearances	141,465	1,965	9,544	18,184	111,772	444,658	72,835	330,764	41,059	3,918	6,517	97,257,307
SUBURBAN AREA²	Percent under 18	13.5	4.3	13.1	15.3	13.4	17.4	16.6	18.0	14.0	42.7

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 2005, 12.4 percent of clearances for violent crimes involved only juveniles, and 17.9 percent of clearances for property crimes involved only juveniles.
Nationwide in 2005, arson offenses had the highest percentage of clearances involving only juveniles—42.2 percent. Juvenile clearances for arson ranged from a high of 49.9 percent in cities with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants to a low of 38.8 percent in the Nation’s smallest cities, those with less than 10,000 in population.
Law enforcement agencies in the Nation’s metropolitan counties reported that 37.1 percent of arson clearances involved only juveniles; those in nonmetropolitan counties reported that 26.0 percent involved only juveniles.
Of the six city population groups, cities with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants had the highest percentage of clearances for violent crime that involved only juveniles (14.0 percent). The Nation’s largest cities, those with 250,000 or more inhabitants, had the lowest percentage of clearances for violent crimes that involved only juveniles (11.3 percent).
In terms of the percentage of clearances involving only juveniles for property crime, 20.8 percent were reported in cities with populations of 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants, the highest of the six city population groups. Conversely, the lowest percentage, 16.2 percent, was reported in cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants.
In the Nation’s metropolitan counties, juveniles were the sole offenders in 12.5 percent of clearances for violent crimes and 15.7 percent of clearances for property crimes. In the Nation’s nonmetropolitan counties, 9.3 percent of clearances for violent crimes and 13.3 percent of clearances for property crimes involved only juveniles.