Nationwide Arrest Rate for Kids Aged 10-17 Goes Down in 1995 - CURRENT EVENTS

Sep 29, 2026

Nationwide youth arrest rates for children aged 10-17 declined in 1995, reversing years of sharp increases in juvenile crime. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno attributes the drop to targeted gang crackdowns, trying some violent youths as adults, and imposing youth curfews in more than 146 cities. The piece weighs support for curfews against constitutional challenges, using examples from Washington, New Orleans, Atlanta, and other cities while warning that rising youth populations could fuel future crime.

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# Nationwide Arrest RateFor Kids Aged 10-17Goes Down in 1995 WASHINGTON, D.C.—Tired of hear-ing bad news—newsabout wars erupting,terrorism threatening,or drug use increasing? Well,we're tired of it too.That's whywe're happy to bring you some major goodneus this week.At a recent press confer-ence,U.S.Attorney General Janet Renoannounced that in 1995—for the firsttime in nearly ten years-youth crime inthe United States went down. Overall,said Reno,arrest rates foryoung people aged 10-17 declined by 2.9 # CURRENT EVENTS TEEN CRIME DROPS Police arrest a youthful suspec in Los Angeles.A"ge tough"policy is credited with helping to cut down on youth crime. percent last year.The youth arrest ratefor murder fell by a huge 15.2 percent.The decline,after years of sharp increasesin juvenile crime,surprised even the FBI. Attorney General Reno attributes thedecline to several causes: ·Going After Gangs.In city after city,police have mounted a major campaign todisrupt and destroy youth gangs.Usingnew laws,police have been able to jail topgang leaders and keep other gang mem-bers off the street,making some neighbor-hoods safe for the first time in years. ■Trying Kids As Adults.In at leastten states and a number of cities,kidswho commit the most violent crimes arenow being tried as adults.That meansthat,instead of a short stay in a juvenilehome,they could go to jail for life."Nowthat they know they could get put awayfor years,some kids decide it's just not —Tom McKinarick/Impact Viuals worth committing a serious crime,"saysan FBI official. ■Imposing Curfews.The most effec-tive—and most controversial—programsto reduce youth crime are youth curfews.More than 146 U.S.cities now have cur-fews requiring kids under 18 to be off thestreets by a certain time.Cities such asAtlanta,Philadelphia,Minneapolis,andWashington,D.C.,have effectively usedcurfews to reclaim their streets and parksfrom teenage gangs and thugs. THE DECLINE,AFTERYEARS OF SHARPINCREASE,SURPRISEDEVEN THE FBI. # Sidelights ●Amajor part of youth crimetoday is committed by youthgangs.In 1982,only ten citieshad serious gang problems.Today,according to gang expert MalcolmKlein,youth gangs now operate in125 U.S.cities.Chicago alonehas more than 100 gangswith anestimated 12,000 to 15,000 gangmembers.In Los Angeles,gangmembership is thought to havedoubled in the last five years.LAnow has 950 gangs with morethan 100,000 gang members. im Tynan/mpadt Visuol Gangs often set themselvesapart from other gangs in a num-ber of ways.Many gangs wearspecial clothing.Most have theirown gang colors,even flagsMany,such as the two LA gangmembers pictured above,havespecial hand signals. ●Instead of sending teens toprison,some states are sendingthem to prison “boot camps”(photo above)where they leanmilitary discipline.At boot camp,teens have to rise at 5 a.m.forseveral hours of running andother physical exercise,thenspend the afternoon in the class-room,and go to bed with lightsout by 9p.m.There's no radio orTV.Some experts think that build-ing more boot camps will furthercut down on youth crime. # TEEN CRIME DROPS continuedfrom page one Though Bill Clinton and Bob Dole don'tagree on much these days,they bothstrongly support youth curfews.In arecent speech to police officers,Dole saidthat it was time to “get tough”with youngcriminals by trying them as adults and byimposing strict curfews on school nights.In a New Orleans speech,PresidentClinton urged that teens should be athome in “every city”by 8 p.m.on schoolnights and by 11 p.m.on weekends. Curfew Opponents Some critics,such as the AmericanCivil Liberties Union(ACLU),however,challenge curfews as unconstitutional.The ACLU says curfews violate theConstitution's: ·First Amendment protection of free-dom of speech and association; ·Fourth Amendment protectionagainst unreasonable searches and dueprocess. "In this country,the government can'tmake it a crime to stand on the sidewalkand look at the stars,walk the d

FAQs

What changed in 1995 regarding youth arrests in the United States?

Arrest rates for youth aged 10-17 declined in 1995 after nearly ten years of increases. Police also saw large drops in specific categories such as murder arrests.

What reasons does Attorney General Janet Reno give for the decline in youth crime?

Reno credits police campaigns against youth gangs, laws that allow some violent youths to be tried as adults, and youth curfews that keep kids off the streets during certain hours.

Why do some critics oppose youth curfews?

Opponents argue curfews violate constitutional protections, including free speech and association under the First Amendment and protections against unreasonable searches and due process under the Fourth Amendment.

Sep 29, 2026

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