Table 27

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means
Additional Information About Selected Offenses
by Population Group, 2008

Population group		Rape by force	Assault to rape- attempts	Firearm	Knife or cutting instrument	Other weapon	Strongarm	Firearm	Knife or cutting instrument	Other weapon	Hands, fists, feet, etc.	Forcible entry	Unlawful entry	Attempted forcible entry	Autos	Trucks and buses	Other vehicles	Structure	Mobile	Other	Number of agencies	2008 estimated population
Population group		Forcible rape		Robbery				Aggravated assault				Burglary			Motor vehicle theft			Arson¹			Number of agencies	2008 estimated population
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Offenses known	66,958	5,502	145,944	26,407	29,502	135,712	138,167	121,413	210,134	169,256	1,082,875	568,245	110,741	582,054	137,036	72,910	23,958	16,152	15,407	13,472	241,803,753
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Percent cleared by arrest	39.3	40.5	21.0	29.4	28.8	30.8	39.5	61.8	55.3	59.4	11.6	13.9	10.6	12.3	9.5	10.5	21.4	8.8	21.0
TOTAL CITIES	Offenses known	50,184	4,377	126,207	23,322	25,725	121,074	111,844	98,634	163,569	122,123	811,363	422,617	86,993	475,228	110,045	47,961	18,280	11,531	11,332	9,823	164,394,139
TOTAL CITIES	Percent cleared by arrest	38.1	40.5	21.0	28.9	28.5	30.4	37.7	61.3	54.2	58.4	11.1	13.6	10.7	11.3	8.4	9.9	21.1	8.5	21.8
GROUP I (250,000 and over)	Offenses known	15,526	1,828	70,741	11,232	11,785	58,130	58,866	39,426	69,598	31,592	312,070	114,157	28,267	212,928	65,428	17,457	6,566	5,594	3,089	67	41,720,494
GROUP I (250,000 and over)	Percent cleared by arrest	41.4	41.4	19.4	26.3	25.2	27.3	34.2	58.7	50.6	50.3	8.6	10.9	9.9	9.2	6.2	8.8	18.2	5.7	17.8
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset)	Offenses known	4,477	769	24,427	4,793	4,269	21,139	17,617	13,163	20,691	10,076	99,131	34,584	7,288	66,634	30,542	7,232	1,888	2,408	1,030	8	14,369,058
1,000,000 and over (Group I subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	48.4	42.9	19.6	25.9	27.5	30.8	35.8	57.9	51.2	50.8	7.5	9.2	11.3	9.4	4.6	7.3	17.1	5.0	11.1
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset)	Offenses known	5,545	573	27,386	3,759	4,396	19,918	23,652	15,632	27,980	10,990	124,635	39,881	12,490	82,316	21,079	6,091	2,247	1,495	952	22	14,623,528
500,000 to 999,999 (Group I subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	40.3	39.6	17.2	25.6	23.8	23.4	34.5	58.0	48.4	47.7	8.4	10.4	9.4	8.5	6.8	9.7	18.4	5.5	19.3
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset)	Offenses known	5,504	486	18,928	2,680	3,120	17,073	17,597	10,631	20,927	10,526	88,304	39,692	8,489	63,978	13,807	4,134	2,431	1,691	1,107	37	12,727,908
250,000 to 499,999 (Group I subset)	Percent cleared by arrest	36.7	41.2	22.2	28.2	24.1	27.6	32.3	60.8	53.0	52.5	10.3	12.8	9.3	9.7	9.1	9.9	18.8	6.7	22.7
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Offenses known	8,234	673	21,663	4,252	5,168	21,285	18,554	17,688	28,171	15,620	139,449	74,139	14,811	89,573	17,449	8,071	2,791	1,887	1,814	170	25,118,296
GROUP II (100,000 to 249,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	37.7	39.1	20.4	27.3	28.3	30.7	37.5	62.4	54.6	61.5	10.5	12.9	9.8	9.5	9.0	7.8	18.3	7.1	22.2
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Offenses known	8,040	569	13,607	3,404	3,549	17,595	13,230	14,610	22,992	20,205	117,106	72,461	14,677	71,800	12,041	6,905	2,806	1,683	2,075	406	27,823,891
GROUP III (50,000 to 99,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	34.8	38.7	23.6	29.5	32.1	32.2	38.1	61.1	56.4	57.5	12.3	14.4	11.9	11.0	9.7	9.5	18.9	9.5	22.5
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Offenses known	6,451	390	8,583	2,054	2,444	10,392	8,196	10,095	16,370	15,447	85,726	53,187	10,591	41,225	5,947	6,071	1,911	933	1,750	693	23,741,598
GROUP IV (25,000 to 49,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	33.7	42.1	24.7	33.7	32.0	34.6	43.6	62.6	57.4	61.3	11.6	13.7	10.5	13.4	13.1	9.7	22.1	11.9	19.9
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Offenses known	6,360	419	7,229	1,452	1,816	8,220	7,150	9,220	14,232	17,426	85,417	56,271	9,952	35,136	5,368	4,821	1,995	782	1,333	1,554	24,493,117
GROUP V (10,000 to 24,999)	Percent cleared by arrest	37.7	40.1	26.4	38.4	33.1	37.3	49.5	66.5	60.9	62.0	14.3	16.0	11.3	19.0	16.0	13.2	27.6	16.9	28.3
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Offenses known	5,573	498	4,384	928	963	5,452	5,848	7,595	12,206	21,833	71,595	52,402	8,695	24,566	3,812	4,636	2,211	652	1,271	6,933	21,496,743
GROUP VI (under 10,000)	Percent cleared by arrest	39.9	40.6	26.8	38.8	38.5	37.8	50.5	65.2	58.1	63.9	16.2	16.7	12.4	23.4	20.0	15.8	29.3	19.8	25.6
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Offenses known	11,568	757	18,157	2,802	3,284	13,330	19,991	17,732	36,079	32,211	193,240	105,000	18,229	88,401	22,849	18,580	4,152	3,849	3,189	1,488	54,365,891
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent cleared by arrest	41.9	42.3	19.5	32.3	30.6	33.4	43.7	63.1	58.4	62.9	12.1	14.4	9.7	14.5	12.2	10.2	21.6	8.1	17.6
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Offenses known	5,206	368	1,580	283	493	1,308	6,332	5,047	10,486	14,922	78,272	40,628	5,519	18,425	4,142	6,369	1,526	772	886	2,161	23,043,723
NONMETROPOLITAN COUNTIES	Percent cleared by arrest	44.7	37.2	35.3	45.2	35.3	40.4	58.0	65.6	60.1	60.6	15.8	15.9	12.6	25.7	23.3	16.0	24.9	15.7	22.5
SUBURBAN AREAS²	Offenses known	21,888	1,479	31,363	5,596	6,593	29,218	31,331	32,176	60,536	63,764	335,229	204,824	36,919	160,988	33,599	28,631	7,526	5,255	6,072	7,071	103,114,853
SUBURBAN AREAS²	Percent cleared by arrest	39.5	41.4	21.6	34.4	32.2	34.8	44.9	64.6	59.3	63.6	12.7	15.0	10.4	15.0	12.7	10.7	24.2	9.8	20.5

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. Agencies must report arson clearances by detailed property classification as specified on the Monthly Return of Arson Offenses Known to Law Enforcement to be included in this table; therefore, clearances in this table may differ from other clearance tables.
² Suburban areas include law enforcement agencies in cities with less than 50,000 inhabitants and county law enforcement agencies that are within a Metropolitan Statistical Area. Suburban areas exclude all metropolitan agencies associated with a principal city. The agencies associated with suburban areas also appear in other groups within this table.

Data Declaration

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