The massive decline in juvenile offending has – predictably – spread to arrest rates for ages 18-20 and 21-24.  

• In 1990, the violent crime arrest rate for ages 18-20 was 16% higher than the rate for ages 21-24, and about 4 times higher than the rate for ages 25 and older.
• In 2020, the violent crime arrest rate for ages 18-20 was 9% lower than the rate for ages 21-24, and just 2 times higher than the rate for ages 25 and older.

• In 1990, the property crime arrest rate for ages 18-20 was 59% higher than the rate for ages 21-24, and more than 5 times the rate for ages 25 and older.
• In 2020, the property crime arrest rate for ages 18-20 was only 4% higher than the rate for ages 21-24, and just 2 times higher than the rate for ages 25 and older.

Adult-onset offending is very rare, but 40% to 60% of youths with juvenile arrests continue offending in early adulthood. “For those who do persist, the transition from adolescence to adulthood is a period of increasing severity of offenses and an increase in lethal violence.” (National Institute of Justice, 2014). For this reason, criminologists have long sought to identify interventions that reduce the percent of juvenile offenders who persist in adult offending.

Lead poisoning prevention offers a different approach – preventing the onset of juvenile offending. As juvenile arrest rates continue to set new record lows every year, ongoing declines in adult offending are inevitable.