NYC Youth Crime in Context: Arrest & Recidivism – NYC – Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice

Key Data Insights

In 2024, the youth share of citywide felony and violent felony arrests was the same as it was in 2018.
A small proportion of youth felony arrests (~5%) are for the most serious violent felony crimes, where 16-17s have seen an uptick as a share of citywide crime, mostly in the past year (2024-2025). The small proportion of 13–15-year-olds has increased steadily in this category in recent years.
Youth recidivism rates for all felony, violent, and serious violent offenses are stable or decreasing. Most youth are reoffending at or below 2018 levels.
— Read on criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us/reports/nyc-youth-crime-in-context-arrest-recidivism/

Exclusive | Tessa Majors’ young killer locked up at Rikers for assault

The 13-year-old arrested in the infamous stabbing death of Barnard student Tessa Majors has continued his life of violence — thanks to the Raise the Age law — with an attempted murder and an assault on a jail guard added to his growing rap sheet. 
— Read on nypost.com/2025/10/26/us-news/tessa-majors-young-killer-locked-up-at-rikers-for-assault/

Teenage victims and criminals have increased since ‘raise the age’ law passed

This year, New York City residents have been benefitting from historic declines in shootings and homicides, and from less-sharp, but still meaningful, decreases in other crime categories.
— Read on nypost.com/2025/08/08/opinion/teenage-victims-and-criminals-have-increased-since-raise-the-age-law-passed/

Lowering the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility: Consequences for Juvenile Crime | Journal of Quantitative Criminology

This was open access at the time of the posting.

The questions of when and how society should sanction juvenile offenders are subject to ongoing political and scientific debates. In this study, we use a p
— Read on link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10940-025-09604-y

Youth in Adult Courts, Jails, and Prisons – The Sentencing Project

Overview

At the turn of the 21st century, it was estimated that 250,000 children every year were charged as adults in the United States. By 2019, that number had dropped 80% to 53,000. This drop is to be celebrated and is the result of legislative changes in 44 states and the District of Columbia, as well as federal funding incentives. However, there is still much work to be done.

The children that remain exposed to the adult criminal legal system are overwhelmingly youth of color. The vast majority serve short sentences in adult jail or prison and return home by their 21st birthdays, the age at which services can be extended to in the youth justice system in the vast majority of states; indicating that many youth could be served, more appropriately, by the youth justice system.
— Read on www.sentencingproject.org/reports/youth-in-adult-courts-jails-and-prisons/