Table 26

Percent of Offenses Cleared by Arrest or Exceptional Means
by Region and Geographic Division, 2009

Region/geographic division		Violent crime	Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter	Forcible rape	Robbery	Aggravated assault	Property crime	Burglary	Larceny- theft	Motor vehicle theft	Arson¹	Number of agencies	2009 estimated population
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Offenses known	1,142,108	13,242	76,276	352,125	700,465	8,229,516	1,957,825	5,557,560	714,131	53,852	14,274	266,098,836
TOTAL ALL AGENCIES:	Percent cleared by arrest	47.1	66.6	41.2	28.2	56.8	18.6	12.5	21.5	12.4	18.5
NORTHEAST	Offenses known	145,884	1,607	9,587	50,477	84,213	979,756	197,766	715,232	66,758	5,911	3,166	44,605,809
NORTHEAST	Percent cleared by arrest	51.2	62.5	44.3	31.2	63.8	21.6	15.5	23.9	16.0	24.9
NEW ENGLAND	Offenses known	46,595	350	3,441	12,988	29,816	328,239	68,718	235,758	23,763	1,876	896	14,001,712
NEW ENGLAND	Percent cleared by arrest	49.2	61.1	33.9	26.2	60.8	16.9	12.9	18.7	10.5	20.2
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Offenses known	99,289	1,257	6,146	37,489	54,397	651,517	129,048	479,474	42,995	4,035	2,270	30,604,097
MIDDLE ATLANTIC	Percent cleared by arrest	52.1	62.9	50.1	32.9	65.4	24.0	16.9	26.4	19.1	27.0
MIDWEST	Offenses known	178,103	2,112	15,109	54,886	105,996	1,413,869	336,042	971,695	106,132	11,518	3,503	47,539,753
MIDWEST	Percent cleared by arrest	40.5	55.3	33.3	23.5	50.1	18.5	10.6	21.8	13.0	16.4
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	118,501	1,484	10,449	40,825	65,743	899,769	232,096	597,777	69,896	7,786	1,742	29,422,515
EAST NORTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	36.0	50.2	31.0	22.0	45.1	16.7	9.7	20.1	11.3	15.2
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	59,602	628	4,660	14,061	40,253	514,100	103,946	373,918	36,236	3,732	1,761	18,117,238
WEST NORTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	49.5	67.2	38.6	27.8	58.1	21.5	12.5	24.5	16.2	18.9
SOUTH	Offenses known	529,435	6,429	31,569	153,267	338,170	3,843,711	982,721	2,576,104	284,886	20,298	5,672	105,568,056
SOUTH	Percent cleared by arrest	49.0	71.1	46.0	29.0	57.9	19.0	13.0	21.7	15.0	20.2
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Offenses known	279,077	3,233	14,236	83,955	177,653	1,934,641	485,869	1,299,821	148,951	9,592	2,760	54,839,659
SOUTH ATLANTIC	Percent cleared by arrest	52.0	71.9	52.5	30.4	61.8	20.7	15.2	23.3	16.1	23.1
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	73,708	986	5,179	19,936	47,607	539,333	148,167	357,996	33,170	2,582	1,208	15,990,736
EAST SOUTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	47.6	72.6	41.3	28.4	55.8	19.9	12.4	23.3	17.4	20.3
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Offenses known	176,650	2,210	12,154	49,376	112,910	1,369,737	348,685	918,287	102,765	8,124	1,704	34,737,661
WEST SOUTH CENTRAL	Percent cleared by arrest	44.7	69.2	40.4	26.8	52.5	16.2	10.3	18.8	12.8	16.9
WEST	Offenses known	288,686	3,094	20,011	93,495	172,086	1,992,180	441,296	1,294,529	256,355	16,125	1,933	68,385,218
WEST	Percent cleared by arrest	45.7	67.2	38.3	28.1	55.7	16.4	11.5	19.7	8.2	15.5
MOUNTAIN	Offenses known	82,947	882	7,513	20,932	53,620	642,960	144,478	432,605	65,877	4,465	800	21,361,759
MOUNTAIN	Percent cleared by arrest	47.5	71.5	35.1	27.5	56.6	19.1	10.2	23.4	10.2	19.3
PACIFIC	Offenses known	205,739	2,212	12,498	72,563	118,466	1,349,220	296,818	861,924	190,478	11,660	1,133	47,023,459
PACIFIC	Percent cleared by arrest	44.9	65.4	40.2	28.3	55.2	15.2	12.1	17.9	7.4	14.0

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

Download Printable Document

In 2009, law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared 51.2 percent of violent crimes. Forty-nine (49.0) percent of violent crimes were cleared in the South, 45.7 percent of violent crimes were cleared in the West, and 40.5 percent of violent crimes were cleared in the Midwest.
By region, agencies in the Northeast cleared 21.6 percent of the property crime offenses, and agencies in the South cleared 19.0 percent. Agencies in the Midwest and West cleared 18.5 percent and 16.4 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 (71.1 percent) and forcible rape offenses (46.0 percent). Law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared the highest percentage of robbery offenses (31.2 percent) and aggravated assault offenses (63.8 percent).
In the Northeast, law enforcement agencies cleared the highest percentage of the three property crimes: 15.5 percent of burglaries, 23.9 percent of larceny-thefts, and 16.0 percent of motor vehicle thefts.
Law enforcement agencies in the Northeast cleared the highest percentage (24.9 percent) of arson offenses.