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Federal Bureau of Investigation Federal Bureau of Investigation

Table 27

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means

Additional Information About Selected Offenses

by Population Group, 2017

Population group Rape1 Robbery Aggravated assault Burglary Motor vehicle theft Arson2 Number
of
agencies		 2017
estimated
population
Rape Assault
to rape-
attempts		 Firearm Knife or
cutting
instrument		 Other
weapon		 Strongarm Firearm Knife or
cutting
instrument		 Other
weapon		 Hands,
fists,
feet, etc.		 Forcible
entry		 Unlawful
entry		 Attempted
forcible
entry		 Autos Trucks
and
buses		 Other
vehicles		 Structure Mobile Other
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES: Offenses known 108,015 5,410 111,555 22,632 26,915 113,859 179,615 118,605 212,194 180,939 690,503 431,109 73,082 517,327 99,694 61,612 17,025 9,395 11,952 14,404 277,152,623
Percent cleared by arrest 33.6 37.7 24.1 33.5 31.5 33.1 36.6 62.2 54.6 61.5 12.3 15.0 12.3 14.0 10.7 10.4 26.0 10.3 23.3
TOTAL CITIES Offenses known 82,072 4,309 97,868 20,358 23,891 103,108 147,974 99,060 168,430 136,699 522,927 322,119 58,123 430,295 81,615 43,548 13,365 7,034 9,385 10,662 192,305,575
Percent cleared by arrest 32.5 38.1 23.9 33.0 31.0 32.6 33.8 61.0 52.8 61.5 11.5 14.6 11.9 13.0 9.7 9.0 24.9 9.5 22.7
GROUP I (all cities 250,000 and over) Offenses known 31,100 1,878 56,904 11,051 12,822 57,723 79,239 46,704 79,274 46,141 208,498 96,672 21,049 189,048 45,947 17,014 5,076 3,292 3,710 76 56,778,339
Percent cleared by arrest 32.8 38.1 21.4 30.4 27.9 30.3 29.6 58.7 48.6 56.6 8.8 11.8 10.6 9.7 7.3 6.1 18.7 6.4 17.4
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset) Offenses known 12,203 844 20,893 5,186 5,351 25,368 23,696 21,247 31,344 22,588 70,324 29,693 6,695 58,701 20,938 6,187 1,452 909 1,301 10 25,129,639
Percent cleared by arrest 34.1 42.8 23.0 34.2 33.7 36.4 31.5 62.0 53.9 62.1 8.7 12.5 14.9 10.0 6.0 7.0 22.1 6.4 10.7
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset) Offenses known 9,966 572 21,365 3,676 4,917 16,560 30,320 15,089 29,514 13,000 80,205 36,008 8,513 69,217 15,170 6,515 2,021 1,350 1,260 23 16,676,765
Percent cleared by arrest 34.2 37.9 19.2 26.1 21.5 27.1 29.2 55.2 41.9 50.2 8.1 10.8 8.4 8.6 7.9 4.7 17.6 6.1 21.0
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset) Offenses known 8,931 462 14,646 2,189 2,554 15,795 25,223 10,368 18,416 10,553 57,969 30,971 5,841 61,130 9,839 4,312 1,603 1,033 1,149 43 14,971,935
Percent cleared by arrest 29.6 29.9 22.5 28.5 27.9 24.0 28.4 57.0 50.4 52.6 10.0 12.3 8.9 10.6 9.1 7.0 16.9 6.8 21.0
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999) Offenses known 13,738 509 16,331 3,498 3,959 15,891 25,404 16,472 27,359 18,285 92,091 56,062 10,554 87,801 14,581 8,162 2,033 1,104 1,445 197 29,500,128
Percent cleared by arrest 31.6 41.1 24.0 32.2 31.2 31.7 33.2 59.8 52.3 59.4 11.4 12.7 11.5 12.6 11.2 8.2 25.7 10.6 28.7
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999) Offenses known 10,917 442 9,483 2,467 2,875 12,375 14,780 11,920 19,958 17,976 70,431 49,785 8,149 58,913 9,519 6,249 1,867 901 1,450 436 30,481,898
Percent cleared by arrest 34.2 41.6 27.5 35.2 35.8 35.6 38.8 64.3 59.2 66.3 11.9 14.9 11.3 13.4 11.0 8.8 25.3 9.5 25.0
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999) Offenses known 9,567 462 7,046 1,561 2,007 7,768 11,646 9,265 14,911 14,639 55,846 41,155 6,890 38,952 4,478 4,490 1,269 566 1,030 791 27,474,766
Percent cleared by arrest 31.5 38.1 29.2 37.8 35.6 37.6 39.2 63.4 57.6 63.1 13.4 15.9 11.9 15.7 13.6 11.0 27.8 13.3 25.0
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999) Offenses known 8,547 364 5,036 1,098 1,415 5,476 9,725 7,793 13,996 16,046 51,499 41,710 5,860 31,459 4,140 3,877 1,267 510 846 1,648 26,285,968
Percent cleared by arrest 33.5 35.2 31.6 44.4 37.4 39.9 44.1 65.6 59.0 66.2 15.5 17.5 14.7 19.9 15.3 12.5 30.5 15.1 26.7
GROUP VI (under 10,000) Offenses known 8,203 654 3,068 683 813 3,875 7,180 6,906 12,932 23,612 44,562 36,735 5,621 24,122 2,950 3,756 1,853 661 904 7,514 21,784,476
Percent cleared by arrest 30.6 34.9 32.0 40.6 39.4 40.4 49.9 65.4 57.1 64.9 16.7 19.3 15.6 25.4 21.0 18.1 34.8 15.1 25.1
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES Offenses known 17,927 744 12,612 2,081 2,685 9,851 24,676 15,352 33,852 31,466 118,580 78,139 11,737 70,713 14,216 13,757 2,550 1,865 1,967 1,661 61,831,313
Percent cleared by arrest 37.3 39.8 25.4 37.2 35.2 37.3 46.9 68.9 61.9 61.5 13.7 16.2 13.5 17.4 13.9 12.4 29.2 12.0 25.7
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES Offenses known 8,016 357 1,075 193 339 900 6,965 4,193 9,912 12,774 48,996 30,851 3,222 16,319 3,863 4,307 1,110 496 600 2,081 23,015,735
Percent cleared by arrest 36.5 28.3 36.1 50.3 40.4 47.2 58.5 66.8 60.7 61.8 16.7 16.7 14.8 28.2 21.0 17.3 31.5 16.1 25.2
SUBURBAN AREA3 Offenses known 33,585 1,615 22,803 4,304 5,536 21,628 39,602 28,664 57,618 61,606 206,642 146,657 23,968 135,910 22,085 21,671 5,052 2,962 3,670 7,781 116,232,117
Percent cleared by arrest 35.6 37.1 27.4 39.5 36.8 38.9 46.1 68.1 60.7 63.8 14.1 16.8 13.2 17.3 13.8 12.4 30.4 12.0 25.9
  • 1 The figures shown in the rape column include only those reported by law enforcement agencies that used the revised Uniform Crime Reporting definition of rape. See the data declaration for further explanation.
  • 2 Not all agencies submit reports for arson to the FBI. As a result, the number of reports the FBI uses to compute the percent of offenses cleared for arson is less than the number it uses to compute the percent of offenses cleared for all other offenses. Agencies must report arson clearances by detailed property classification as specified on the Monthly Return of Arson Offenses Known to Law Enforcement to be included in this table; therefore, clearances in this table may differ from other clearance tables.
  • 3 Suburban area includes law enforcement agencies in cities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and county law enforcement agencies that are within a Metropolitan Statistical Area. Suburban area excludes all metropolitan agencies associated with a principal city. The agencies associated with suburban areas also appear in other groups within this table.

Data Declaration

Provides the methodology used in constructing this table and other pertinent information about this table.