By Cara Tabachnick
News Editor
December 11, 2025 / 5:00 AM EST / CBS News
Annual arrests in the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have fallen by about 25%, according to a new analysis released Thursday by the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ). The report’s lead author, Stephanie Kennedy, Ph.D., CCJ policy director, examined FBI arrest data from 1980 through 2024 and told CBS News that 2025 arrest data likely won’t be available until next fall.
In 2019, roughly 10 million people were arrested, per FBI data; by 2024 that figure had dropped to about 7.5 million.
Male arrests decline, while the share of female arrests increases
Men remain the majority of arrests, but the share represented by women and girls has grown as male arrest rates have fallen faster. In 2024, girls accounted for about 31% of juvenile arrests and women about 27% of adult arrests.
Kennedy noted this shift does not reflect a surge in female offending but rather a sharper decline in male arrests. The female adult arrest rate peaked in 2009 and was about 42% lower by 2024. Men’s arrests peaked in 1989 and were about 66% lower in 2024. Researchers point out men and women often enter the criminal legal system through different pathways: men are more frequently arrested for violent crimes, while women’s system contact is more often linked to trauma, relationships and survival-related behavior.
Despite declining arrest rates, the number of incarcerated women has increased markedly over recent decades. The Sentencing Project reports women in prison rose from 26,326 in 1980 to 186,244 in 2023 — an increase of more than 600%. Since 2020, women’s incarceration has climbed faster than men’s: jail rates for women rose 33% versus 17% for men, and prison rates for women rose 9%. In 2023, more than 1 million women were under supervision by the criminal legal system.
Juvenile and drug offense arrests drop
High-profile juvenile carjackings and vehicle thefts have drawn attention, but overall juvenile arrest numbers remain lower than in 2019. Juvenile arrests made up about 19% of all arrests in 1980 and just 7% in 2024. Kennedy said she was especially surprised by the sustained low juvenile arrest rates, noting the downward trend began around 2008.
The report also highlights variation across juvenile groups: violent and property arrest rates rose for both boys and girls in some periods, drug arrests declined for boys but increased for girls, and post-2020 increases were particularly pronounced among Black and Asian youth.
Arrests for drug offenses have fallen sharply. Kennedy said the national drug offense rate “cratered,” dropping by roughly half for both adults and juveniles since 2019. In 2024 the drug offense arrest rate was 591 per 100,000 adults, down from 2019 levels and far below its 2006 peak of 1,537 per 100,000 adults. CCJ attributes part of this decline to state law changes that reduce penalties for many drug offenses and to shifts in enforcement priorities.
Law enforcement and judicial factors
Kennedy said law enforcement often adjusts arrests based on perceived need and local legal contexts. Some law enforcement officials say low-level drug arrests are time-consuming and ineffective. Rodney Harrison, former Suffolk County police commissioner and a CBS News law enforcement analyst, explained that the judicial system’s constraints — including the likelihood that someone arrested on a misdemeanor will be released before an officer’s shift ends — make these arrests less worthwhile.