Youth Crime, Workplace Violence Rising, Studies Say : Statistics: Justice Dept. report shows nearly 1 million serious offenses are committed on the job. Juvenile court cases up 26%.

Crime’s pressure is mounting for office workers and juveniles, according to two studies released by the Justice Department on Sunday.

A study by the department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, found that one of every six violent crimes occurs at work, affecting nearly 1 million victims nationwide each year. It said 16% of all assaults, 8% of all rapes and 7% of all robberies take place at work.

The department also reported that the number of juvenile court cases involving serious offenses such as murders and aggravated assaults grew 68% from 1988 to 1992. Of the 118,700 serious crimes committed by youngsters, aggravated assault cases increased the most, up 80%, or 77,900 cases in 1992, the study showed.

“The workplace is the scene of almost 1 million violent crimes every year,” said Lawrence A. Greenfeld, acting director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. “About 10%--or 100,000--of these violent workplace crimes involve offenders armed with handguns.”

The survey does not include information on homicides. But data from other sources indicate that 4% of all homicides also occur in the workplace.

Jack Levin, Northeastern University professor of sociology and criminology, said some data show the number of bosses killed at work has doubled over the past 10 years, with three to four a month slain by a disgruntled worker or ex-worker.

More than half of the crimes at work were not reported to the police, the agency said.

Of those not reporting the crimes, 40% said they believed the matter was minor or too personal while 27% said they disclosed the incident to another official, such as a company security guard.

In the study on juvenile courts, cases increased by 26%, to nearly 1.5 million, according to the study by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Homicides increased by 55%, to 2,500; robberies went up by 52%, to 32,900; and forcible rape cases rose by 27%, to 5,400.

“Criminals are getting younger, victims are getting younger,” said Wesley Skogan, a political science and urban affairs professor at Northwestern University. “It’s a combination of bravado, hopelessness, access to firepower and the allures of the drug market.”

Part of the overall increase in juvenile court cases, Skogan said, comes from an increasing willingness to prosecute young people.

The report also found an increased willingness to transfer cases from juvenile court to adult criminal court, based usually on the seriousness of the offense, the juvenile’s record and the juvenile’s amenability to treatment.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said the statistics on escalating youth crime and significant crime at work show the need for Congress to adopt anti-crime legislation as quickly as possible.