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Table 27

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means

Additional Information About Selected Offenses

by Population Group, 2018

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 121,551 5,707 100,810 21,629 27,109 111,161 195,046 128,006 233,301 188,885 639,714 415,012 73,625 526,343 109,959 64,946 15,369 8,407 11,831 15,325 302,194,936
Percent cleared by arrest 33.0 37.5 23.0 32.7 29.4 31.3 32.4 55.8 49.2 58.4 12.8 15.6 13.1 14.6 11.5 11.2 26.1 10.9 25.9
TOTAL CITIES Offenses known 90,344 4,478 86,321 19,291 23,665 99,184 156,461 104,774 180,273 139,002 476,647 305,385 57,871 429,858 89,406 45,710 11,758 6,202 9,283 10,971 204,451,288
Percent cleared by arrest 31.1 37.0 22.9 32.7 29.3 31.2 30.6 55.9 49.3 59.2 11.8 14.9 13.0 13.4 10.1 9.6 24.4 10.2 24.8
GROUP I (all cities 250,000 and over) Offenses known 34,458 1,946 49,587 10,589 12,667 54,511 83,695 50,118 85,515 46,162 192,200 96,908 22,095 187,285 50,806 17,988 4,215 2,684 3,711 84 60,183,883
Percent cleared by arrest 29.3 37.2 20.8 30.6 26.8 29.9 26.3 53.4 45.4 55.4 9.2 12.2 11.4 10.1 8.1 7.6 19.3 7.0 18.2
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset) Offenses known 12,913 875 17,926 4,908 5,016 24,050 24,662 21,596 31,205 21,745 63,698 28,000 6,862 54,591 24,343 5,944 957 602 1,541 10 25,167,857
Percent cleared by arrest 29.2 40.8 21.3 36.2 31.4 36.3 28.2 58.9 52.5 61.9 8.8 12.9 15.5 10.2 6.5 10.3 22.4 7.8 8.2
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset) Offenses known 11,009 556 19,338 3,480 5,209 16,261 32,786 16,428 32,980 13,396 74,092 37,870 8,906 72,890 15,291 6,703 1,609 1,142 1,274 26 18,736,687
Percent cleared by arrest 29.6 36.5 18.4 25.6 22.4 26.2 25.3 50.6 41.3 51.4 8.5 11.8 8.9 9.2 9.6 6.2 16.5 6.9 25.0
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset) Offenses known 10,536 515 12,323 2,201 2,442 14,200 26,247 12,094 21,330 11,021 54,410 31,038 6,327 59,804 11,172 5,341 1,649 940 896 48 16,279,339
Percent cleared by arrest 29.0 31.7 23.9 26.2 27.0 23.3 25.7 47.2 41.5 47.5 10.4 12.1 10.5 11.0 9.4 6.4 20.2 6.6 25.8
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999) Offenses known 15,194 639 14,857 3,365 4,026 16,079 26,745 17,385 29,118 19,726 85,352 53,430 10,740 87,932 16,105 8,481 1,892 1,074 1,500 219 32,568,127
Percent cleared by arrest 31.5 34.6 23.3 31.9 30.0 29.7 30.4 56.3 48.8 56.3 11.4 13.6 12.8 12.7 11.0 8.3 23.4 10.9 28.3
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999) Offenses known 12,577 511 8,766 2,358 2,929 12,714 16,681 12,990 22,771 19,098 64,891 48,337 7,977 59,334 10,378 6,579 1,631 875 1,464 477 33,353,799
Percent cleared by arrest 33.2 37.4 26.0 36.4 32.4 32.2 33.7 57.6 54.5 61.8 12.7 15.4 13.1 14.2 11.9 10.0 27.1 10.7 29.1
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999) Offenses known 10,378 435 5,935 1,391 1,885 7,257 11,362 9,129 15,072 14,485 48,467 37,651 6,635 38,822 4,932 4,792 1,152 509 1,006 833 28,920,904
Percent cleared by arrest 31.2 38.4 27.1 34.1 30.5 34.5 37.0 57.8 55.3 61.2 14.4 16.3 13.5 16.5 14.1 10.0 28.5 14.5 29.4
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999) Offenses known 9,164 374 4,470 959 1,247 5,060 10,659 7,941 15,033 16,199 47,252 36,975 5,456 32,004 4,169 3,969 1,118 493 767 1,703 27,136,547
Percent cleared by arrest 32.9 41.4 29.4 40.7 35.6 37.4 41.8 61.4 54.3 64.0 15.3 17.7 16.9 20.7 15.4 11.9 31.4 15.2 31.6
GROUP VI (under 10,000) Offenses known 8,573 573 2,706 629 911 3,563 7,319 7,211 12,764 23,332 38,485 32,084 4,968 24,481 3,016 3,901 1,750 567 835 7,655 22,288,028
Percent cleared by arrest 32.1 34.9 30.4 41.5 38.5 37.9 47.7 61.2 54.6 62.3 17.3 20.0 15.2 24.8 20.7 17.9 28.1 15.2 28.3
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES Offenses known 23,084 875 13,459 2,156 3,103 11,211 31,384 19,046 42,846 36,923 120,867 82,071 13,016 80,016 16,910 15,281 2,613 1,785 1,949 1,963 74,277,601
Percent cleared by arrest 38.9 42.7 22.2 31.9 28.7 31.2 36.7 53.5 46.4 55.6 14.9 17.5 13.7 18.7 17.1 14.2 30.8 10.5 30.5
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES Offenses known 8,123 354 1,030 182 341 766 7,201 4,186 10,182 12,960 42,200 27,556 2,738 16,469 3,643 3,955 998 420 599 2,391 23,466,047
Percent cleared by arrest 37.8 30.5 35.8 42.9 43.1 45.2 51.8 64.4 57.5 57.7 17.4 17.5 13.9 27.4 18.9 19.0 34.0 22.1 28.9
SUBURBAN AREA3 Offenses known 40,024 1,696 22,510 4,137 5,992 22,327 47,850 33,023 67,950 67,845 200,160 143,457 24,610 145,770 25,276 23,581 4,904 2,801 3,536 8,318 131,266,364
Percent cleared by arrest 36.7 40.6 24.4 33.9 31.2 33.9 38.4 56.5 49.9 59.3 15.1 17.7 13.9 18.4 16.1 13.4 30.5 11.8 30.1
  • 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.

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