Crime—an Overview - Arrests

In 2002 law enforcement agencies nationwide made 13.7 million arrests for all criminal infractions excluding traffic violations. This figure includes all offenses reported by local law enforcement agencies to the FBI, including crimes not counted in the FBI's tabulations on specific crimes. There were 620,510 arrests for Crime Index violent crimes and 1.6 million arrests for Crime Index property crimes in 2002, for a total of 2.2 million arrests. Of the arrests for Crime Index offenses, larceny-theft arrests accounted for the greatest number (1.16 million), followed by aggravated assault (472,290), burglary (288,291) and motor vehicle theft (148,943). Non-Crime Index arrests for drug abuse violations (1.53 million), driving under the

TABLE 1.2
Index of Crime, 2002

Area	Population1	Crime Index	Modified Crime Index2	Violent crime3	Property crime3	Murder and non-negligent manslaughter	Forcible rape	Robbery	Aggravated assault	Burglary	Larceny-theft	Motor vehicle theft	Arson2
United States total	288,368,698	11,877,218		1,426,325	10,450,893	16,204	95,136	420,637	894,348	2,151,875	7,052,922	1,246,096
Rate per 100,000 inhabitants		4,118.8		494.6	3,624.1	5.6	33.0	145.9	310.1	746.2	2,445.8	432.1
Metropolitan Statistical Area	231,376,218
Area actually reporting4	94.3%	9,482,136		1,163,636	8,318,500	13,100	72,708	369,834	707,994	1,658,078	5,570,764	1,089,658
Estimated total	100.0%	10,201,622		1,262,359	8,939,263	14,235	78,236	401,140	768,748	1,778,174	6,007,505	1,153,584
Rate per 100,000 inhabitants		4,409.1		545.6	3,863.5	6.2	33.8	173.4	332.3	768.5	2,596.4	498.6
Cities outside metropolitan areas	22,475,044
Area actually reporting4	85.5%	881,650		79,845	801,805	617	7,464	11,981	59,783	157,232	603,408	41,165
Estimated total	100.0%	1,016,773		90,586	926,187	717	8,679	13,746	67,444	181,014	698,507	46,666
Rate per 100,000 inhabitants		4,524.0		403.1	4,121.0	3.2	38.6	61.2	300.1	805.4	3,107.9	207.6
Rural counties	34,517,436
Area actually reporting4	84.7%	582,496		65,962	516,534	1,046	6,937	5,045	52,934	169,192	306,754	40,588
Estimated total	100.0%	658,823		73,380	585,443	1,252	8,221	5,751	58,156	192,687	346,910	45,846
Rate per 100,000 inhabitants		1,908.7		212.6	1,696.1	3.6	23.8	16.7	168.5	558.2	1,005.0	132.8
1Populations are Bureau of the Census provisional estimates as of July 1, 2002.
2Although arson data are included in the trend and clearance tables, sufficient data are not available to estimate totals for this offense.
3Violent crimes are offenses of murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Property crimes are offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.
4The percentage reported under "Area actually reporting" is based upon the population covered by agencies providing 3 months or more of crime reports to the FBI.
SOURCE: "Table 2: Index of Crime, United States, 2002," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

FIGURE 1.1
Violent and property crime rates, by region, 2002
(Per 100,000 inhabitants)

TABLE 1.3
Estimated arrests, 2002

Total1	13,741,438	Embezzlement	18,552
		Stolen property; buying, receiving, possessing	126,422
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter	14,158	Vandalism	276,697
Forcible rape	28,288	Weapons; carrying, possessing, etc.	164,446
Robbery	105,774	Prostitution and commercialized vice	79,733
Aggravated assault	472,290	Sex offenses (except forcible rape and prostitution)	95,066
Burglary	288,291	Drug abuse violations	1,538,813
Larceny-theft	1,160,085	Gambling	10,506
Motor vehicle theft	148,943	Offenses against the family and children	140,286
Arson	16,635	Driving under the influence	1,461,746
		Liquor laws	653,819
Violent crime2	620,510	Drunkenness	572,735
Property crime3	1,613,954	Disorderly conduct	669,938
Crime Index4	2,234,464	Vagrancy	27,295
		All other offenses	3,662,159
Other assaults	1,288,682	Suspicion	8,899
Forgery and counterfeiting	115,735	Curfew and loitering law violations	141,252
Fraud	337,404	Runaways	125,688
1Does not include suspicion.
2Violent crimes are offenses of murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
3Property crimes are offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
4Includes arson.
SOURCE: "Table 29: Estimated Arrests, United States, 2002," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

influence (1.46 million), and public drunkenness (572,735) accounted for over one-fourth (25.7 percent) of all arrests in 2002. (See Table 1.3.)

Age

In 2002 arrestees under the age of 25 accounted for 46.4 percent of persons arrested for all criminal offenses nationwide, and 54.2 percent of persons arrested for Crime Index offenses. (See Table 1.4.) Arrestees under 21 accounted for 31.3 percent of all arrests and 41.1 percent of arrests for Crime Index offenses. Persons under 18 comprised 16.5 percent of all arrests and 25.7 percent of arrests for Crime Index offenses in 2002, while persons under 15 accounted for 5.2 percent of all arrests.

In 2002 persons under 25 accounted for 43.7 percent of violent crime arrests and 58.2 percent of property crime arrests. People in this young age group represented a large percentage of those arrested for many crimes:

• Arson (67.8 percent)
• Burglary (62.6 percent)
• Liquor law violations (78.9 percent)
• Motor vehicle theft (63.8 percent)
• Robbery (61.4 percent)
• Vandalism (68 percent)

Arrests of persons under 18 years of age (considered juveniles by most states) fell 10.9 percent from 1993 to 2002. This compares to virtually no change in arrestees over 18 years of age during the same 10-year period. (See Table 1.5.) Embezzlement violations accounted for the largest increase (73.1 percent) in arrests of persons under 18 between 1993 and 2002, followed by an increase of 59.1 percent increase for drug abuse offenses, and 48 percent for offenses against the family and children. Because curfew/loitering and running away are considered status offenses (crimes for juveniles but not for adults), they are not measured for persons over 18 years of age. Despite these increases, Crime Index arrests for juveniles declined. Arrests for violent crimes like murder and rape dropped significantly in this age group (64.3 and 26.5 percent respectively), as did some types of property crime, like motor vehicle theft (50.4 percent).

Gender

In 2002 men were arrested 3.3 times more often than women. Overall, males accounted for about 6.5 million arrests in 2002, compared to 1.9 million arrests of females. However, from 1993 to 2002, the number of males arrested for all offenses declined by 5.9 percent, while female arrests for all offenses increased by 14.1 percent. While arrests for males under 18 declined by 16.4 percent, arrests for females under 18 increased by 6.4 percent between 1993 and 2002. (See Table 1.6.)

From 1993 to 2002 drug abuse violations accounted for the largest percentage increase in non-status offense arrests for all males (34.5 percent), while for females embezzlement showed the largest increase (80.5 percent). For males and females under the age of 18, arrests for drug abuse violations between 1993 and 2002 increased by 51.2 percent and 120.0 percent, respectively. Offenses against family and children (domestic violence and child abuse) increased by 53.0 percent for all females and 8.1 percent for all males between 1993 and 2002. In 2002

TABLE 1.4
Arrests of persons under 15,18, 21, and 25 years of age, 2002

		Number of persons arrested				Percent of total all ages
Offense charged	Total all ages	Under 15	Under 18	Under 21	Under 25	Under 15	Under 18	Under 21	Under 25
Total	9,819,501	510,226	1,624,192	3,077,565	4,556,104	5.2	16.5	31.3	46.4
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter	10,107	101	973	2,915	5,161	1.0	9.6	28.8	51.1
Forcible rape	20,162	1,243	3,361	6,324	9,302	6.2	16.7	31.4	46.1
Robbery	77,342	4,323	17,893	34,409	47,460	5.6	23.1	44.5	61.4
Aggravated assault	339,437	15,846	44,281	82,137	133,400	4.7	13.0	24.2	39.3
Burglary	206,136	22,389	61,843	100,886	129,124	10.9	30.0	48.9	62.6
Larceny-theft	845,009	95,090	248,861	378,668	475,903	11.3	29.5	44.8	56.3
Motor vehicle theft	107,187	8,227	32,544	52,623	68,394	7.7	30.4	49.1	63.8
Arson	11,833	3,728	5,851	7,108	8,022	31.5	49.4	60.1	67.8
Violent crime1	447,048	21,513	66,508	125,785	195,323	4.8	14.9	28.1	43.7
Property crime2	1,170,165	129,434	349,099	539,285	681,443	11.1	29.8	46.1	58.2
Crime Index3	1,617,213	150,947	415,607	665,070	876,766	9.3	25.7	41.1	54.2
Other assaults	921,676	71,697	168,996	261,254	390,153	7.8	18.3	28.3	42.3
Forgery and counterfeiting	83,111	457	3,652	15,737	30,841	0.5	4.4	18.9	37.1
Fraud	233,087	1,178	6,434	29,905	66,714	0.5	2.8	12.8	28.6
Embezzlement	13,416	90	1,005	3,581	5,887	0.7	7.5	26.7	43.9
Stolen property; buying, receiving,
possessing	91,280	5,044	18,819	36,064	50,878	5.5	20.6	39.5	55.7
Vandalism	198,550	32,888	75,955	108,498	134,926	16.6	38.3	54.6	68.0
Weapons; carrying, possessing, etc.	118,312	8,647	25,288	46,491	67,458	7.3	21.4	39.3	57.0
Prostitution and commercialized vice	58,758	165	1,095	6,259	13,818	0.3	1.9	10.7	23.5
Sex offenses (except forcible rape and
prostitution)	67,833	7,226	13,877	21,313	29,049	10.7	20.5	31.4	42.8
Drug abuse violations	1,103,017	21,836	133,754	342,204	540,142	2.0	12.1	31.0	49.0
Gambling	7,525	171	1,114	2,496	3,845	2.3	14.8	33.2	51.1
Offenses against the family and children	97,716	2,442	6,572	13,227	25,566	2.5	6.7	13.5	26.2
Driving under the influence	1,020,377	370	15,214	110,849	294,898	*	1.5	10.9	28.9
Liquor laws	463,849	10,132	106,014	331,409	366,125	2.2	22.9	71.4	78.9
Drunkenness	413,808	1,679	13,529	53,504	116,051	0.4	3.3	12.9	28.0
Disorderly conduct	482,827	56,314	139,048	203,997	277,201	11.7	28.8	42.3	57.4
Vagrancy	19,678	402	1,519	3,325	5,294	2.0	7.7	16.9	26.9
All other offenses (except traffic)	2,606,294	76,025	282,025	626,786	1,063,824	2.9	10.8	24.0	40.8
Suspicion	7,670	294	1,171	2,092	3,164	3.8	15.3	27.3	41.3
Curfew and loitering law violations	103,155	29,070	103,155	103,155	103,155	28.2	100.0	100.0	100.0
Runaways	90,349	33,152	90,349	90,349	90,349	36.7	100.0	100.0	100.0
1Violent crimes are offenses of murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
2Property crimes are offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
3Includes arson.
* Less than one-tenth of 1 percent.
SOURCE: "Table 41: Arrests of Persons under 15, 18, 21, and 25 Years of Age, 2002," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

men were arrested most often for drug abuse violations (798,695) and driving under the influence (727,089). Women were arrested most often for larceny-theft (270,467), although the number of women arrested for larceny-theft declined by 14.0 percent from 1993 to 2002.

Race and Ethnicity

Although whites are arrested more often in total numbers, blacks are over-represented in almost all areas of arrests in relation to their proportion of the general population. Hispanics are counted by the government as an ethnic group, not a race, and therefore do not always appear as a separate category in statistics. Hispanics, like blacks, are also arrested more often in relation to their proportion of the population than are non-Hispanics.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2001 whites comprised 77 percent of the population, while blacks and Hispanics accounted for 12.9 and 12.5 percent respectively. In 2002, of some 9.8 million arrests nationwide, about 70.7 percent of those arrested were white and 26.9 percent were black. (See Table 1.7.) American Indians accounted for 1.3 percent and Asians/Pacific Islanders accounted for another 1.1 percent of arrests. About 50 percent of those arrested for murder were black, while 47.7 percent were whites; 63.4 percent of those arrested for forcible rape were white, while 34.0 percent were black. Similarly, 63.4 percent of those arrested for aggravated assault were white, while 34.2 percent were black. Of those arrested for burglary in 2002, 70.4 percent were white and 27.5 percent black. For larceny-theft, 67.9 percent of arrestees were white, while 29.3 percent were black.

Whites were much more likely to be arrested for driving under the influence, other liquor law violations, and running away. American Indians comprised 2.3 percent of all arrests for drunkenness, while Asian or Pacific Islanders accounted for less than 1 percent of such arrests. Driving under the influence accounted for the highest percentage

TABLE 1.5
Ten-year arrest trends, 1993–2002

	Number of persons arrested
	Total all ages			Under 18 years of age			18 years of age and over
Offense charged	1993	2002	Percent change	1993	2002	Percent change	1993	2002	Percent change
Total1	8,581,290	8,413,983	1.9	1,564,326	1,393,752	10.9	7,016,964	7,020,231	*
Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter	15,125	8,933	40.9	2,485	886	64.3	12,640	8,047	36.3
Forcible rape	23,509	17,394	26.0	3,928	2,887	26.5	19,581	14,507	25.9
Robbery	96,877	69,405	28.4	26,505	16,338	38.4	70,372	53,067	24.6
Aggravated assault	320,814	299,286	6.7	49,427	38,082	23.0	271,387	261,204	3.8
Burglary	253,751	178,477	29.7	89,511	54,393	39.2	164,240	124,084	24.4
Larceny-theft	959,452	729,825	23.9	307,926	216,434	29.7	651,526	513,391	21.2
Motor vehicle theft	128,552	94,608	26.4	57,740	28,664	50.4	70,812	65,944	6.9
Arson	12,646	10,055	20.5	6,451	4,957	23.2	6,195	5,098	17.7
Violent crime2	456,325	395,018	13.4	82,345	58,193	29.3	373,980	336,825	9.9
Property crime3	1,354,401	1,012,965	25.2	461,628	304,448	34.0	892,773	708,517	20.6
Crime Index4	1,810,726	1,407,983	22.2	543,973	362,641	33.3	1,266,753	1,045,342	17.5
Other assaults	733,037	782,294	6.7	126,489	143,933	13.8	606,548	638,361	5.2
Forgery and counterfeiting	66,364	71,842	8.3	5,341	3,070	42.5	61,023	68,772	12.7
Fraud	218,695	195,925	10.4	6,449	5,258	18.5	212,246	190,667	10.2
Embezzlement	7,910	11,815	49.4	510	883	73.1	7,400	10,932	47.7
Stolen property; buying, receiving, possessing	101,613	76,137	25.1	28,808	15,766	45.3	72,805	60,371	17.1
Vandalism	209,095	169,842	18.8	97,968	65,360	33.3	111,127	104,482	6.0
Weapons; carrying, possessing, etc.	175,998	104,418	40.7	42,530	22,615	46.8	133,468	81,803	38.7
Prostitution and commercialized vice	61,811	51,275	17.0	755	958	26.9	61,056	50,317	17.6
Sex offenses (except forcible rape and prostitution)	69,072	59,193	14.3	13,387	12,198	8.9	55,685	46,995	15.6
Drug abuse violations	710,922	974,082	37.0	73,413	116,781	59.1	637,509	857,301	34.5
Gambling	10,348	6,500	37.2	1,715	1,053	38.6	8,633	5,447	36.9
Offenses against the family and children	67,930	79,059	16.4	3,520	5,208	48.0	64,410	73,851	14.7
Driving under the influence	984,141	879,210	10.7	8,878	12,921	45.5	975,263	866,289	11.2
Liquor laws	316,919	385,611	21.7	75,836	88,574	16.8	241,083	297,037	23.2
Drunkenness	509,543	362,979	28.8	11,705	11,452	2.2	497,838	351,527	29.4
Disorderly conduct	483,676	398,728	17.6	103,747	112,844	8.8	379,929	285,884	24.8
Vagrancy	13,581	15,702	15.6	2,254	1,346	40.3	11,327	14,356	26.7
All other offenses (except traffic)	1,834,511	2,209,668	20.4	221,650	239,171	7.9	1,612,861	1,970,497	22.2
Suspicion	6,231	2,252	63.9	1,239	708	42.9	4,992	1,544	69.1
Curfew and loitering law violations	68,042	91,984	35.2	68,042	91,984	35.2	–	–	–
Runaways	127,356	79,736	37.4	127,356	79,736	37.4	–	–	–
1Does not include suspicion.
2Violent crimes are offenses of murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
3Property crimes are offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
4Includes arson.
* Less than one-tenth of 1 percent.
SOURCE: "Table 32: Ten-Year Arrest Trends: Totals, 1993–2002," in Crime in the United States 2002, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC, 2003

of arrests among whites (87.8 percent), while gambling accounted for the highest proportion of arrests among African-Americans (68.3 percent). Among American Indians, liquor law violations accounted for the highest proportion of arrests (2.5 percent of all arrests for this offense). Gambling was the crime for which the most Asians/Pacific Islanders (4.2 percent) were arrested.

Offenses Cleared by Arrest

The more violent the crime, the more likely it is that a suspect will be arrested. According to the FBI, for the crimes reported to law enforcement agencies nationwide in 2002, 64.0 percent of all murders, 56.5 percent of all aggravated assaults, 44.5 percent of forcible rapes, and 25.7 percent of robberies were cleared by arrest. Property crimes, such as larceny-theft (18.0 percent), motor vehicle theft (13.8 percent), and burglary (13.0 percent), were least likely to be cleared by arrest in 2002. The fact that a crime is cleared by arrest does not mean that the individual arrested is guilty of the crime or will be convicted of the offense in criminal or juvenile court.