According to Stahl (2003), "the number of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts increased 27% between 1990 and 1999. During this time, the number of drug law violation cases increased 169%, public order offense cases increased 74%, and person offense cases increased 55%" (p. 1). According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, juveniles were responsible for 16% of all arrests in 1992 (Allen-Hagen, 1992, p. 1). In a breakdown of individual crimes, the report shows that juveniles were involved in 15% of murder arrests, 16% of forcible rape, 26% of robbery, 15% of aggravated assault, 34% of burglary, 44% of motor vehicle theft, 23% of weapon violations, and 23% of drug law violation arrests (Allen-Hagen, p. 1). Many people do not associate juveniles with more serious crimes such as murder and aggravated assault; however, it is quite obvious that juveniles are becoming increasingly involved in every aspect of crime.
The above statistics are representative of all juveniles, meaning all persons below the age of eighteen, however, it is important to understand just how young many of these offenders really are. Over half (57%) of the juvenile delinquency cases processed in 1999 involved a juvenile younger than sixteen years old at the time of referral. Compared to the 36% of juvenile arrests to youth under age sixteen in 1992, it is evident that juveniles are becoming involved in crime at younger ages every year (Allen-Hagen, p. 1). Of the juvenile delinquency cases processed in 1999 that involved youth under the age of 16, 64% involved person offense cases, 61% involved property offense cases, 54% involved public order offense cases, and 40% involved drug law violation cases (Stahl, p.1). As juveniles continue to become involved in crime at younger and younger ages, the juvenile crime rate will undoubtedly continue to rise. .
To understand just how much crime juveniles are responsible for, it is necessary to compare the arrest rates of juveniles and adults.