Male-female differences in elderly arrests: An exploratory analysis

An analysis of the arrest statistics reveal that there are more differences in arrests between elderly males and females than between males and females in the general population. For example, females have a proportionally higher share of arrests for major crimes than for minor ones; and that statistic holds more for elderly females than for the younger female population. The female share is higher in major property offense arrests than in major violent offense arrests. In addition, several other arrest patterns based on age and sex were found. The issue of differential handling of females and the elderly by law enforcement agencies could not be dealt with sufficiently using these statistics, although it could be inferred from some arrest patterns that elderly females might have been handled more leniently than others where minor offenses were concerned.