Juvenile and Young Adult Arrests in Pennsylvania, 1997

December 3, 1998

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. --Juvenile crime again declined in Pennsylvania during 1997.
The Pennsylvania State Data Center at Penn State Harrisburg reports that crimes
committed by juveniles across the Commonwealth totaled 24,212 in 1997, according to
the Uniform Crime Report published by the State Police. This figure represents a 1.5
percent decrease from the previous year's 26,532 crimes.

A juvenile is defined as a person under the age of 18 years while a young adult is
under the age of 25 years. Crimes committed by young adults totaled 24,279 last year,
a slight increase of .3 percent from the 24,212 from 1996. Almost one third (30.2
percent) of total crimes reported by the Pennsylvania State Police in 1997 were
committed by juveniles, while slightly more than one quarter (28.0 percent) were
committed by young adults.

There were a total of 361,729 serious crimes reported to Pennsylvania police
departments last year, an average of 991 each day or one every one minute and 27
seconds. There was a 5.5 percent decrease from the 1996 total of 382,955.

Of juveniles and young adults arrested in 1997, 33.1 percent (40,390) of cases
were handled within the police department and released, 31.5 percent (38,415) were
sent to juvenile court or a probation officer and 34.9 (42,535) were referred to criminal or
adult court. This age group represented 20.2 percent of all criminal judicial proceedings.
Since 1996, an increasing proportion of cases are being brought to adult court.

Juveniles were primarily arrested for burglary and for larceny-theft (67.5 percent)
while young adults tended toward larceny-theft (46.4 percent), aggravated assault (15.5
percent), and burglary (13.0 percent).

Almost one quarter (23.1 percent) of all those arrested for violent crimes in 1997
were under the age of 18 while more than half (53.6 percent) were under 25 years.
Juveniles were arrested for one third (32.7 percent) of property crimes committed last
year while almost two thirds (69.8 percent) were under 25 years.

Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections show that in 1997, 2,234
or 36.8 percent of court commitments went to persons under the age of 25. This rate
increased by almost 3 percent since 1996. As of year end 1997, 326 persons or 9.9
percent of the total inmates serving a life sentence were aged 24 or under, a 3.7 percent
decrease from the previous year. Court commitments for a life sentence in this age
group totaled 71 in 1997, a decrease of 11 from 1996.

The Pennsylvania State Data Center is the Commonwealth's official source of
population and economic statistics and services. It is based at Penn State Harrisburg's
Institute of State and Regional Affairs. The Pennsylvania State Data Center is part of
the U.S. Census Bureau's national State Data Center Program.
_____________________________________________________________________
Editors: For more information, contact Amy Jonas at the Pennsylvania State Data
Center, (717) 772-2710, or Penn State Harrisburg's Public Information
Office, (717) 948- 6029.
Source of Information: U.S. Census Bureau ; Pennsylvania
State Police ; Pennsylvania
Department of Corrections

Accompany Table: Pennsylvania Juvenile and Young Adult Crime Arrest Distribution, 1996 and 1997