Violent offenses against young people, mostly teenagers, fell off sharply over two decades, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. But the steep decline did not occur for black youths.

Serious violent crimes include rape and other sexual assaults, robbery and aggravated assault.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that the overall rate of serious violent crime against youth ages 12 to 17 plummeted 77% from 1994 to 2010. Rates of rape and sexual assault among these youths declined 68%, while robberies fell 77% and aggravated assaults dropped 80%.

The bureau also noted that declines in serious violent crime among youth were greater from 1994 to 2002 (down 69%) than from 2002 to 2010 (down 27%).

One piece of bad news was that African-Americans age 12-17 were still experiencing higher rates of violent crime. From 2002 to 2010, the rates of serious violent crime declined among white youth by 26% and among Hispanic youth by 65%, but actually increased by 4% among black youth.

Also, the 2010 rate of serious violent crime against black youth was 25.4 per 1,000 victimizations. This rate was more than twice that of young whites (11.7 per 1,000) and young Hispanics (11.3 per 1,000).

 -Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Serious Violent Crime Against Youth Dropped 77 Percent From 1994 To 2010 (Bureau of Justice Statistics)

Violent Crime Against Youth, 1994–2010 (Nicole White and Janet L. Lauritsen, Bureau of Justice Statistics) (pdf)

More than 3 Million Violent Crimes in U.S. go Unreported Every Year (by Maztt Bewig, AllGov)