Juvenile arrests for violent crime have dropped to a 30-year low, and fewer teens are being locked up than at any time in nearly 20 years, the National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ) found in its latest periodic national report on offenders and victims. The number of killings committed by youth under 18 is at the lowest point in at least three decades, the authors write.
The 244-page report includes data on arrests, commitment and detention up to 2010. It’s the first such report since 2006 by the NCJJ, the research arm of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.