All U.S. Part I Crime, 1970-2000 As can also be seen in the violent crime tables serious crime (as measured by the FBI’s Part I offenses: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson felonies) has risen much faster among 30-49 year-olds the parents than among teens. The biggest reason seems to be soaring drug abuse among aging baby boomers. Naturally, in today’s rampant anti-youth political climate, no major expert or institutional authority has mentioned that while serious youth crime is about where it was in 25 years ago, felony arrests among 30- and 40-agers have quadrupled in number and doubled in rate. Further, according to the FBI “crime clearance” reports, older offenders commit more crimes and more serious crimes per offender than do youthful offenders. For example, in 2000 youths comprised 27.5% of all Part I offense arrests but accounted for just 19.5% of all Part I crimes. Thus arrest figures overstate youth offending, and older offenders cause an even larger share of America’s serious crime volume than these figures indicate. Part I crime arrests raw numbers, 1970-2000 <18 18-29 30-49 50+ 1970 796,550 653,143 220,070 52,543 71 849,532 729,282 234,339 56,827 72 830,232 730,846 238,613 58,284 73 845,390 737,373 237,896 60,546 74 1,066,654 949,843 274,774 66,726 1975 994,315 955,162 278,784 71,048 76 928,802 943,862 282,933 73,461 77 915,923 932,133 290,787 74,627 78 951,975 992,343 318,899 81,713 79 920,555 1,036,122 330,070 85,266 1980 861,830 1,089,778 359,586 87,676 81 823,701 1,130,886 404,370 96,260 82 823,448 1,250,301 480,477 107,438 82 754,650 1,152,785 471,657 102,292 83 748,520 1,085,020 472,524 98,910 1985 767,407 1,115,670 506,030 100,662 86 775,979 1,182,515 562,665 100,587 87 788,512 1,210,015 618,296 97,164 88 774,769 1,213,613 664,134 94,405 89 789,175 1,275,321 733,128 97,711 1990 844,684 1,289,183 762,516 104,351 91 866,006 1,270,422 784,477 101,712 92 861,451 1,199,734 801,880 101,446 93 855,969 1,141,123 823,292 96,802 94 922,434 1,115,912 856,424 94,848 1995 906,312 1,101,941 893,291 96,096 96 881,945 1,057,004 838,723 92,135 97 899,453 964,793 833,447 93,410 98 734,674 965,302 787,157 91,528 99 790,660 1,075,634 875,037 108,309 2000 752,308 1,043,735 838,075 107,114 U.S.Part I crime rates per 100,000 population by age, 1970-2000 <18* 18-29 30-49 50+* 1970 2,439.2 1,749.9 425.1 108.5 71 2,559.1 1,861.2 470.1 115.0 72 2,475.3 1,797.4 499.3 115.8 73 2,514.4 1,762.7 504.7 118.3 74 3,154.7 2,208.5 495.5 128.0 1975 3,028.3 2,110.2 566.2 134.4 76 2,772.1 2,065.8 568.9 136.7 77 2,782.7 2,020.3 571.4 136.8 78 2,947.5 2,115.6 568.7 147.7 79 2,936.3 2,157.2 607.7 151.9 1980 2,798.1 2,193.1 612.5 154.1 81 2,745.7 2,236.4 660.4 167.8 82 2,813.0 2,451.1 720.3 185.9 82 2,609.8 2,304.1 843.2 175.2 83 2,608.8 2,141.0 805.0 169.4 1985 2,672.3 2,232.5 769.1 171.4 86 2,733.8 2,419.5 799.1 170.4 87 2,815.6 2,502.3 859.2 163.7 88 2,811.1 2,532.1 913.8 155.1 89 2,903.0 2,682.1 952.8 162.4 1990 3,111.4 2,659.8 1,022.1 172.1 91 3,134.8 2,694.5 1,041.5 166.1 92 3,044.2 2,600.9 1,038.8 163.7 93 2,965.4 2,518.5 1,034.9 153.6 94 3,134.3 2,510.9 1,042.7 148.6 1995 3,026.7 2,506.6 1,063.7 148.5 96 2,908.8 2,408.3 1,091.7 140.9 97 2,935.5 2,200.2 1,008.2 139.0 98 2,371.1 2,191.0 1,001.6 133.1 99 2,126.5 2,048.2 878.3 129.9 2000 2,001.6 1,985.1 838.7 126.0 5-year avgs <18 18-29 30-49 50+ 1970-74 2,612.8 1,870.0 505.6 116.9 1975-79 2,893.2 2,095.0 587.3 141.9 1980-84 2,719.5 2,264.8 758.0 170.1 1985-59 2,784.2 2,468.0 911.1 164.7 1990-94 3,075.4 2,596.9 1,044.5 160.5 1995-99 2,685.5 2,279.5 987.6 138.5 2000 2,001.6 1,985.1 838.7 126.0 2000 Part I crime rate vs rate in: 1970-74 -23.4% 6.2% 65.9% 7.7% 1975-79 -30.8% - 5.2% 42.8% -11.2% 1980-84 -26.4% -12.3% 10.7% -26.0% 1985-89 -28.1% -19.6% - 7.9% -23.5% 1990-94 -34.9% -23.6% -19.7% -21.5% 1995-99 -25.5% -12.9% -15.1% - 9.0% *Population used to calculate rates for <18 is 10-17; for age 50+, 50-84. Crime numbers adjusted to reflect population covered by each annual crime report. Source: FBI, Uniform Crime Reports, 1970-2000. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Table 38 (2000, and corresponding tables for earlier years).