Table 26

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means
by Region and Geographic Division, 2008

Geographic region/division		Violent crime	Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter	Forcible rape	Robbery	Aggravated assault	Property crime	Burglary	Larceny- theft	Motor vehicle theft	Arson¹	Number of agencies	2008 estimated population
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Offenses known	1,204,655	14,225	78,919	381,768	729,743	8,628,538	1,978,524	5,781,757	868,257	59,868	14,074	262,319,792
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Percent cleared by arrest	45.1	63.6	40.4	26.8	54.9	17.4	12.5	19.9	12.0	17.8
NORTHEAST	Offenses known	148,881	1,735	9,571	52,671	84,904	1,032,119	206,449	745,020	80,650	6,591	3,150	44,564,427
NORTHEAST	Percent cleared by arrest	50.4	63.8	44.2	30.1	63.3	20.5	15.6	22.4	15.2	23.6
NEW ENGLAND	Offenses known	43,601	359	3,308	12,035	27,899	327,274	66,933	233,968	26,373	1,886	882	13,644,453
NEW ENGLAND	Percent cleared by arrest	48.0	53.8	30.4	26.0	59.5	15.4	12.3	16.9	9.8	21.8
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Offenses known	105,280	1,376	6,263	40,636	57,005	704,845	139,516	511,052	54,277	4,705	2,268	30,919,974
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Percent cleared by arrest	51.3	66.4	51.5	31.4	65.2	22.8	17.2	24.9	17.8	24.3
MIDWEST	Offenses known	185,906	2,179	17,256	56,782	109,689	1,495,421	334,714	1,030,573	130,134	12,514	3,487	46,953,492
MIDWEST	Percent cleared by arrest	39.9	53.3	33.7	22.9	49.4	17.5	10.7	20.3	13.1	15.9
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	117,535	1,358	10,363	41,734	64,080	913,905	219,617	609,540	84,748	8,125	1,637	27,794,694
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	35.4	47.9	30.5	21.7	44.8	16.3	10.0	19.2	11.6	14.4
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	68,371	821	6,893	15,048	45,609	581,516	115,097	421,033	45,386	4,389	1,850	19,158,798
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	47.7	62.4	38.3	26.1	56.0	19.4	12.0	21.8	15.8	18.6
SOUTH	Offenses known	567,472	6,979	31,859	171,636	356,998	3,981,945	984,104	2,652,643	345,198	22,581	5,540	103,539,490
SOUTH	Percent cleared by arrest	46.0	68.0	45.2	27.0	54.7	17.8	13.0	20.0	14.6	19.1
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Offenses known	310,043	3,740	15,041	99,273	191,989	2,098,721	508,101	1,400,199	190,421	11,506	2,755	54,995,451
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Percent cleared by arrest	47.3	66.0	49.2	27.4	57.1	19.1	14.7	21.1	15.5	20.3
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	79,379	1,060	5,211	23,241	49,867	564,622	149,021	373,566	42,035	2,271	1,165	15,265,637
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	45.6	67.5	38.7	27.1	54.5	17.6	11.6	20.3	15.7	19.8
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	178,050	2,179	11,607	49,122	115,142	1,318,602	326,982	878,878	112,742	8,804	1,620	33,278,402
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	43.7	71.9	42.9	26.2	50.7	15.8	10.8	18.0	12.7	17.4
WEST	Offenses known	302,396	3,332	20,233	100,679	178,152	2,119,053	453,257	1,353,521	312,275	18,182	1,897	67,262,383
WEST	Percent cleared by arrest	44.2	60.7	36.8	26.7	54.6	15.3	11.5	18.3	7.9	15.5
MOUNTAIN	Offenses known	87,091	929	7,558	23,185	55,419	688,344	149,874	454,576	83,894	4,975	774	20,958,751
MOUNTAIN	Percent cleared by arrest	44.5	67.1	32.8	24.0	54.3	16.9	9.5	20.8	9.2	18.4
PACIFIC	Offenses known	215,305	2,403	12,675	77,494	122,733	1,430,709	303,383	898,945	228,381	13,207	1,123	46,303,632
PACIFIC	Percent cleared by arrest	44.1	58.2	39.1	27.5	54.7	14.5	12.5	17.0	7.4	14.4

¹ 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.

Data Declaration

Provides the methodology used in constructing this table and other pertinent information about this table.

Overview

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Law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared 50.4 percent of violent crimes in 2008. Forty-six percent of violent crimes were cleared in the South, 44.2 percent of violent crimes were cleared in the West, and 39.9 percent of violent crimes were cleared in the Midwest.
By region, agencies in the Northeast cleared 20.5 percent of property crime offenses; agencies in the South cleared 17.8 percent. Agencies in the Midwest and West cleared 17.5 percent and 15.3 percent of property crime offenses, respectively.
Of the Nation’s four regions, law enforcement agencies in the South cleared the highest percentage of murder offenses (68.0 percent) and forcible rape offenses (45.2 percent). Law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared the highest percentage of robbery offenses (30.1 percent) and aggravated assault offenses (63.3 percent).
Law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared the highest percentage of the three property crimes: 15.6 percent of burglaries, 22.4 percent of larceny-thefts, and 15.2 percent of motor vehicle thefts.
Law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared the highest percentage (23.6 percent) of arson offenses.