Table 28

Number of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means
Percent of Clearances Involving Persons Under 18 Years of Age
by Population Group, 2006

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	2006 estimated population
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Offenses known	1,240,985	14,948	80,440	384,844	760,753	8,851,465	1,956,175	5,810,638	1,084,652	65,939	13,760	260,278,125
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Percent cleared by arrest	44.3	60.7	40.9	25.2	54.0	15.8	12.6	17.4	12.6	18.0
TOTAL CITIES	Offenses known	970,010	11,462	59,113	331,106	568,329	6,851,214	1,423,646	4,565,971	861,597	48,166	9,748	170,276,178
TOTAL CITIES	Percent cleared by arrest	42.0	59.3	39.3	24.8	52.0	15.7	12.1	17.7	11.6	17.3
GROUP I (250,000 and over)	Offenses known	420,698	6,051	18,652	168,676	227,319	2,184,592	479,714	1,298,083	406,795	18,436	69	42,564,096
GROUP I (250,000 and over)	Percent cleared by arrest	35.5	53.7	39.8	21.5	45.2	12.0	9.5	13.8	9.1	13.2
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset)	Offenses known	131,210	2,023	5,668	57,838	65,681	650,001	133,861	380,352	135,788	6,120	8	14,058,014
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	32.6	59.2	41.4	21.8	40.6	11.2	8.5	13.3	7.9	10.9
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset)	Offenses known	155,761	2,174	6,818	59,694	87,075	832,547	189,369	494,519	148,659	6,212	23	15,042,706
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	35.6	52.3	36.1	20.4	45.7	11.0	8.7	12.3	9.4	15.3
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset)	Offenses known	133,727	1,854	6,166	51,144	74,563	702,044	156,484	423,212	122,348	6,104	38	13,463,376
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	38.3	49.5	42.4	22.4	48.6	14.0	11.4	16.1	10.1	13.4
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Offenses known	168,765	1,981	10,269	60,056	96,459	1,183,719	250,789	775,383	157,547	7,575	179	26,835,997
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	40.8	60.9	40.4	24.5	50.6	14.9	11.3	16.9	10.5	15.0
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Offenses known	136,613	1,318	9,500	43,501	82,294	1,073,801	224,212	729,912	119,677	7,624	419	28,813,634
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	45.0	63.8	37.0	27.8	54.7	17.3	12.8	19.6	11.8	18.4
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Offenses known	96,807	857	7,678	27,703	60,569	877,422	173,592	627,093	76,737	5,472	733	25,344,757
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	49.0	68.8	37.4	31.1	58.4	18.1	13.0	19.9	14.5	19.1
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Offenses known	78,824	720	7,072	19,564	51,468	812,047	159,979	592,748	59,320	4,752	1,615	25,598,860
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	52.1	73.6	39.5	32.6	60.9	19.5	15.1	20.8	18.2	25.2
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Offenses known	68,303	535	5,942	11,606	50,220	719,633	135,360	542,752	41,521	4,307	6,733	21,118,834
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Percent cleared by arrest	57.7	71.0	41.7	35.3	64.6	19.0	16.5	19.3	24.0	26.2
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Offenses known	217,660	2,654	15,382	49,587	150,037	1,572,480	394,870	988,811	188,799	13,654	1,676	64,185,500
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent cleared by arrest	50.7	62.9	45.7	26.9	58.8	15.6	13.3	16.5	15.3	18.3
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Offenses known	53,315	832	5,945	4,151	42,387	427,771	137,659	255,856	34,256	4,119	2,336	25,816,447
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent cleared by arrest	59.3	73.0	44.9	39.6	62.9	16.8	15.4	16.5	24.5	24.6
SUBURBAN AREA²	Offenses known	367,678	3,934	27,284	90,147	246,313	3,108,417	685,507	2,103,341	319,569	22,895	7,243	114,780,554
SUBURBAN AREA²	Percent cleared by arrest	50.9	64.7	43.1	28.7	59.7	16.8	13.7	18.1	15.4	19.8

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 2006, 12.6 percent of clearances for violent crime offenses involved only juveniles (individuals under age 18), and 19.1 percent of clearances for property crime offenses involved only juveniles.
In 2006, 16.6 percent of all reported robbery clearances involved only juveniles.
Arson offenses had the highest percentage of clearances involving only juveniles—40.2 percent—nationally in 2006. Clearances for arson involving only juveniles ranged from a high of 49.1 percent in cities with 25,000 to 49,999 inhabitants to a low of 38.1 percent in cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants.
Law enforcement agencies in the Nation's metropolitan counties reported that 37.3 percent of arson clearances involved only juveniles; those in nonmetropolitan counties reported that 24.4 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 involving only juveniles (14.5 percent). Cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants had the lowest percentage of clearances for violent crimes involving only juveniles (11.4 percent).
For property crime, 26.1 percent of reported clearances in cities with populations of 100,000 to 249,999 inhabitants involved only juveniles, the highest percentage of the six city population groups. Conversely, the lowest percentage, 16.6 percent, was reported in cities with 250,000 or more inhabitants.
In the Nation's metropolitan counties, juveniles were the sole offenders in 12.4 percent of clearances for violent crimes and 16.3 percent of clearances for property crimes. In the Nation's nonmetropolitan counties, 9.2 percent of clearances for violent crimes and 13.8 percent of clearances for property crimes involved only juveniles.