Juvenile crime near 30-year low in Minn.

Minnesota's juvenile crime rate has dropped significantly since the 1990s, and arrests are reaching 30-year lows, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said in a new report.

"I knew that there was a decline, I could see that, but I was really surprised to see that, wow, we've really come full circle on our data with kids and our involvement with kids in the justice system," said Dana Swayze, who analyzes crime data for the state agency. "That that trend line was so clear."

The report, released Thursday, said juvenile arrests in 2011, the most recent year for which data was available, were about the same as in 1980. Property crimes were much less frequent, but the juvenile violent crime rate was slightly higher in the 2000s than it was in the '80s.

Juvenile crime peaked in Minnesota in the '90s. In 1998, the record year, there were nearly 134 arrests for every 1,000 Minnesota kids ages 10-17. The violent crime rate peaked in 1994 with four arrests per 1,000 youths, and the property crime rate peaked in 1992 with 33 arrests per 1,000 youths.

Swayze said it isn't clear yet what caused the trend. She is working on another report that will analyze some possible causes for the trend, including factors like changes in law and new programs for at-risk teens.

Officials said they are pleased with the trend but are concerned that racial disparities in the juvenile crime data persist. For example, African American youth accounted for 36 percent of arrests in 2010 while African Americans made up only 8 percent of the state's youth population. Overall, the report said, the percentage of youth arrested representing communities of color has been increasing since 1981.