Persons Arrested

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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.

Important note about rape data

In 2013, the FBI UCR Program initiated the collection of rape data within the Summary Reporting System under a revised definition. The term “forcible” was removed, and the definition changed to the revised UCR definition below.

Legacy UCR definition of rape:  The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.

Revised UCR definition of rape:  Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. 

For tables within this publication that present data for 2013 only, the rape figures are aggregate totals of arrest data submitted using both the legacy and revised UCR definitions of rape. For trend tables, which present data from a previous year and for 2013, the rape figures and percentages are based on the legacy UCR definition only. 

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 11,302,102 arrests in 2013. Of these arrests, 480,360 were for violent crimes, and 1,559,284 were for property crimes. (Note:  the UCR Program does not collect data on citations for traffic violations.)
• The highest number of arrests were for drug abuse violations (estimated at 1,501,043 arrests), larceny-theft (estimated at 1,231,580), and driving under the influence (estimated at 1,166,824). (See Table 29.)
• The estimated arrest rate for the United States in 2013 was 3,690.5 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants. The arrest rate for violent crime (including murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) was 159.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, and the arrest rate for property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson) was 513.2 per 100,000 inhabitants. (See Table 30.)
• Two-year arrest trends show violent crime arrests declined 3.9 percent in 2013 when compared with 2012 arrests, and property crime arrests decreased 2.9 percent when compared with 2012 arrests.
• Arrests of juveniles for all offenses decreased 15.5 percent in 2013 when compared with the 2012 number; arrests of adults decreased 3.7 percent. (See Table 36.)
• More than 73 percent (73.5) of the persons arrested in the nation during 2013 were males. They accounted for 79.9 percent of persons arrested for violent crime and 62.2 percent of persons arrested for property crime. (See Table 42.)
• In 2013, 68.9 percent of all persons arrested were white, 28.3 percent were black, and the remaining 2.9 percent were of other races. (See Table 43.)

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, 2013

Drug abuse violations		United States total	Northeast	Midwest	South	West
Total1		100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Sale/Manufacturing:	Total	17.7	21.8	18.4	17.5	15.2
	Heroin or cocaine and their derivatives	6.0	11.9	3.5	5.6	4.2
	Marijuana	5.6	6.0	8.6	4.9	4.7
	Synthetic or manufactured drugs	1.9	1.6	1.3	3.3	0.5
	Other dangerous nonnarcotic drugs	4.2	2.3	5.0	3.7	5.8
Possession:	Total	82.3	78.2	81.6	82.5	84.8
	Heroin or cocaine and their derivatives	16.4	17.4	9.6	13.8	23.4
	Marijuana	40.6	46.0	51.7	49.8	18.0
	Synthetic or manufactured drugs	4.6	3.1	5.1	6.4	2.7
	Other dangerous nonnarcotic drugs	20.7	11.6	15.1	12.5	40.8

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.