• The juvenile arrest rate for simple assault increased 156% between 1980 and 1997, declined slightly through 2002, then rose again through 2006. The rate dropped 3% in the last year, resting at a level 6% below the 1997 peak.
• Unlike the trend for simple assault, the juvenile aggravated assault arrest rate declined steadily since the mid-1990s, falling 41% between 1994 and 2007.
• The 2007 juvenile arrest rate for simple assault was substantially above the 1980 rate for most racial groups. Between 1980 and 2007, the juvenile arrest rate for simple assault for white youth and black youth more than doubled (126% and 154%, respectively). Between 1994 and 2007, the rates remained essentially constant, while aggravated assault arrest rates fell for both races (37% and 47%, respectively).

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Internet Citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available:
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/crime/JAR_Display.asp?ID=qa05211. October 24, 2008.

Adapted from Puzzanchera, C. Juvenile Arrests 2007 [Forthcoming]. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

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