Arrests
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Definition
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program counts one arrest for each separate instance in which a person is arrested, cited, or summoned for an offense. The UCR Program collects arrest data on 28 offenses, as described in Offense Definitions. (Please note that, beginning in 2010, the UCR Program no longer collected data on runaways.) Because a person may be arrested multiple times during a year, the UCR arrest figures do not reflect the number of individuals who have been arrested; rather, the arrest data show the number of times that persons are arrested, as reported by law enforcement agencies to the UCR Program.
Data collection-juveniles
The UCR Program considers a juvenile to be an individual under 18 years of age regardless of state definition. The program does not collect data regarding police contact with a juvenile who has not committed an offense, nor does it collect data on situations in which police take a juvenile into custody for his or her protection, e.g., neglect cases.
Overview
- Nationwide, law enforcement made an estimated 13,120,947 arrests (except traffic violations) in 2010. Of these arrests, 552,077 were for violent crimes and 1,643,962 were for property crimes.
- The highest number of arrests were for drug abuse violations (estimated at 1,638,846 arrests), driving under the influence (estimated at 1,412,223), and larceny-theft (estimated at 1,271,410).
- The estimated arrest rate for the United States in 2010 was 4,257.6 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants. The arrest rate for violent crime (including murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) was 179.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, and the arrest rate for property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson) was 538.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.
- Two-year arrest trends show violent crime arrests declined 5.3 percent in 2010 when compared with 2009 arrests, and property crime arrests decreased 4.7 percent when compared with the 2009 arrests.
- Arrests of juveniles for all offenses decreased 9.7 percent in 2010 when compared with the 2009 number; arrests of adults declined 3.7 percent.
- Nearly three-quarters (74.5 percent) of the persons arrested in the Nation during 2010 were males. They accounted for 80.5 percent of persons arrested for violent crime and 62.4 percent of persons arrested for property crime.
- In 2010, 69.4 percent of all persons arrested were white, 28.0 percent were black, and the remaining 2.6 percent were of other races.
Expanded arrest data
Expanded data about arrests include information about the age, gender, and race of the arrestees. These data are available in the following tables:
Age: Tables 32, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 46, 47, 50, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 62, 64, and 65
Gender: Tables 33, 35, 37, 39, 40, 42, 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, 60, 63, and 66
Race: Tables 43, 49, 55, 61, and 67
Arrests Table
Arrests for Drug Abuse Violations
Percent Distribution by Region, 2010
Drug abuse violations | United States total |
Northeast | Midwest | South | West | |
Total1 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |
Sale/Manufacturing: | Total | 18.1 | 22.3 | 19.6 | 17.8 | 15.4 |
Heroin or cocaine and their derivatives |
6.2 | 12.0 | 4.1 | 6.0 | 4.3 | |
Marijuana | 6.3 | 6.8 | 9.6 | 5.4 | 5.5 | |
Synthetic or manufactured drugs |
1.8 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 0.6 | |
Other dangerous nonnarcotic drugs |
3.7 | 2.0 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 5.0 | |
Possession: | Total | 81.9 | 77.7 | 80.4 | 82.2 | 84.6 |
Heroin or cocaine and their derivatives |
16.4 | 16.6 | 10.0 | 14.9 | 21.3 | |
Marijuana | 45.8 | 48.3 | 53.9 | 51.5 | 33.5 | |
Synthetic or manufactured drugs |
4.1 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 2.8 | |
Other dangerous nonnarcotic drugs |
15.7 | 9.8 | 12.3 | 10.3 | 27.1 |
1 Because of rounding, the percentages may not add to 100.0.
What you won't find on this page
- Clearance data for violent crimes and property crimes.
- The number of persons who were convicted, prosecuted, and/or imprisoned. The UCR Program does not collect this information.
- Table 29
- Table 30
- Table 31
- Table 32
- Table 33
- Table 34
- Table 35
- Table 36
- Table 37
- Table 38
- Table 39
- Table 40
- Table 41
- Table 42
- Table 43
- Table 44
- Table 45
- Table 46
- Table 47
- Table 48
- Table 49
- Table 50
- Table 51
- Table 52
- Table 53
- Table 54
- Table 55
- Table 56
- Table 57
- Table 58
- Table 59
- Table 60
- Table 61
- Table 62
- Table 63
- Table 64
- Table 65
- Table 66
- Table 67
- Table 68
- Table 69
- Table Guide