Is the rate of juvenile crime exploding?
ANSWER Ninety-four percent of American juveniles are arrest-free. Of the six percent who were arrested in 1994, only about seven percent (i.e., less than on-half of one percent of juveniles in the U.S.) were arrested for a Violent Crime Index offense in 1994. Although there was a sharp increase in recent years in the homicide arrest rate for juveniles – which has been largely attributed to the increased availability of handguns – the homicide arrest rate for youth has fallen 22.8 percent since 1993, according to the most recent figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The overwhelming majority of juvenile arrests have nothing to do with violence. Most violent crimes (86 percent in 1994) are committed by adults, and adults are responsible for three-fourths of the increase in violent crimes.
