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Federal Bureau of Investigation Federal Bureau of Investigation

Table 27

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means

Additional Information About Selected Offenses

by Population Group, 2010

Population group Forcible rape Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Motor vehicle theft Arson1 Number
of
agencies		 2010
estimated
population
Rape
by
force		 Assault
to rape-
attempts		 Firearm Knife or
cutting
instrument		 Other
weapon		 Strong-
arm		 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
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES: Offenses known 63,267 4,791 117,447 22,567 24,848 118,886 124,968 115,129 196,668 164,724 1,056,872 579,671 107,692 451,940 98,358 61,865 21,286 12,184 13,580 13,888 251,147,923
Percent cleared by arrest 39.2 41.6 22.3 29.9 29.8 31.8 41.1 63.6 56.7 61.2 11.4 13.6 10.8 12.1 9.1 10.4 21.8 9.4 21.8
TOTAL CITIES Offenses known 47,387 3,871 101,234 19,895 21,589 105,514 99,956 92,856 153,464 118,483 778,448 425,951 83,871 366,951 78,109 40,540 16,069 8,590 10,151 10,120 169,966,285
Percent cleared by arrest 37.7 41.6 22.2 29.1 29.3 31.1 38.5 62.8 55.5 60.8 10.9 13.3 10.8 11.0 8.1 9.3 21.4 8.7 22.1
GROUP I (250,000 and over) Offenses known 14,859 1,644 55,521 9,130 9,330 49,975 51,155 35,482 63,816 28,261 292,520 109,326 25,855 157,742 44,871 14,179 5,687 3,888 2,977 66 42,447,594
Percent cleared by arrest 40.5 42.4 19.8 25.4 25.5 27.8 34.4 61.1 52.0 53.7 8.4 10.4 9.1 7.8 5.6 7.3 17.7 5.8 19.4
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset) Offenses known 4,345 681 19,193 3,746 3,469 18,064 14,729 11,927 20,680 8,189 90,745 31,873 6,244 45,235 20,837 6,177 1,512 1,394 984 8 14,654,178
Percent cleared by arrest 43.7 46.7 19.6 24.7 26.7 29.5 35.5 61.8 52.2 51.3 7.2 8.2 9.6 6.7 3.8 5.2 20.0 5.5 13.0
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset) Offenses known 5,360 499 20,174 3,117 3,372 16,846 19,701 14,157 25,900 10,398 112,111 39,069 11,179 61,634 14,729 4,532 2,217 1,253 822 22 15,002,760
Percent cleared by arrest 39.5 35.3 18.6 25.3 24.5 25.1 34.8 58.5 49.4 50.8 8.0 10.1 8.3 7.6 6.1 10.1 16.0 5.3 23.5
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset) Offenses known 5,154 464 16,154 2,267 2,489 15,065 16,725 9,398 17,236 9,674 89,664 38,384 8,432 50,873 9,305 3,470 1,958 1,241 1,171 36 12,790,656
Percent cleared by arrest 38.8 43.8 21.5 26.8 25.2 28.6 32.9 64.2 55.5 58.7 10.1 12.7 9.9 9.1 9.0 7.2 17.9 6.7 21.9
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999) Offenses known 7,944 543 17,865 3,777 4,360 18,013 17,542 17,246 27,366 16,851 137,965 77,229 15,062 70,251 13,489 7,158 2,664 1,411 1,639 177 26,247,156
Percent cleared by arrest 34.8 42.5 22.4 29.8 31.6 31.2 37.4 62.0 55.0 59.9 10.1 12.3 10.0 9.8 9.1 8.4 17.9 7.7 21.8
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999) Offenses known 7,460 491 11,265 3,074 3,193 15,595 11,396 14,129 21,890 19,598 112,193 71,640 13,721 57,486 8,564 6,189 2,430 1,223 1,844 419 28,758,695
Percent cleared by arrest 36.7 34.8 24.7 30.4 31.4 33.0 41.3 61.5 57.0 63.4 11.3 14.2 11.8 11.2 9.8 9.2 21.8 10.5 21.4
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999) Offenses known 6,263 382 7,565 1,728 2,197 9,819 7,816 9,807 15,196 15,423 86,609 58,187 10,441 34,274 4,339 4,766 1,562 792 1,512 731 25,287,278
Percent cleared by arrest 34.2 41.1 27.8 32.3 30.5 34.9 45.5 65.5 59.8 61.9 12.1 13.6 11.4 14.4 11.2 8.8 25.7 13.1 22.4
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999) Offenses known 5,849 370 5,655 1,367 1,640 7,418 6,728 8,902 14,397 17,299 82,573 57,899 10,221 28,122 3,894 4,309 1,728 713 1,130 1,612 25,583,045
Percent cleared by arrest 37.4 41.4 30.0 39.7 34.5 40.4 50.0 67.2 61.1 64.7 14.4 15.7 12.6 18.6 16.7 12.1 29.3 11.6 26.5
GROUP VI (under 10,000) Offenses known 5,012 441 3,363 819 869 4,694 5,319 7,290 10,799 21,051 66,588 51,670 8,571 19,076 2,952 3,939 1,998 563 1,049 7,115 21,642,517
Percent cleared by arrest 40.0 46.0 28.5 36.6 38.3 38.2 51.9 67.0 60.6 64.9 16.5 16.7 12.9 24.6 19.8 16.0 25.6 16.7 26.5
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES Offenses known 10,903 641 14,606 2,349 2,782 12,034 18,496 16,889 32,975 32,306 195,520 107,051 17,832 69,327 16,461 15,490 3,522 2,896 2,602 1,547 56,839,183
Percent cleared by arrest 43.0 42.6 21.4 34.1 31.9 35.6 47.7 66.2 60.2 61.7 12.2 14.2 10.1 15.1 11.1 11.2 22.6 9.6 19.3
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES Offenses known 4,977 279 1,607 323 477 1,338 6,516 5,384 10,229 13,935 82,904 46,669 5,989 15,662 3,788 5,835 1,695 698 827 2,221 24,342,455
Percent cleared by arrest 45.6 38.4 37.1 53.3 39.2 46.8 61.9 68.9 63.8 62.8 15.1 15.0 13.1 25.3 22.2 15.9 24.1 17.9 26.1
SUBURBAN AREAS2 Offenses known 20,459 1,297 25,501 4,839 5,783 26,528 29,142 31,130 56,587 63,756 334,787 208,018 36,448 127,670 24,530 23,831 6,453 4,145 5,067 7,313 107,741,763
Percent cleared by arrest 40.2 42.9 23.8 34.7 32.7 36.9 48.1 67.0 61.0 63.3 12.8 14.9 11.0 15.4 11.8 11.2 25.2 10.4 21.4
  • 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 areas include law enforcement agencies in cities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and county law enforcement agencies that are within a Metropolitan Statistical Area. Suburban areas exclude 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.