Criminologists and gerontologists have reported increases in crimes perpetrated by elderly persons, but arrest data do not necessarily reflect this trend, due to failure to prosecute. To explore the influence of age, sex, race, and offense type on arrest and prosecution outcomes, Detroit Police Department arrest and case disposition data (1981), arrest outcomes, and conviction rates for a stratified elderly offender sample (N=571) were compared. Generally, dismissal rates among the elderly offender sample for all Part I offenses suggest the younger elderly, 55 to 59, have a higher dismissal rate than the older elderly, 65 and over. However, rates of dismissal for violent crimes among the elderly groups remain fairly stable--at a high rate. Dismissal rates for property offenses tend to decrease with advancing age. Factors such as race and sex appear to play a major role in case dismissals. Data on conviction rates for the elderly offender sample indicate that once the decision to prosecute the offender has been made, elderly suspects are more likely than younger offenders aged 17 to 21, or 35 to 44, to be convicted and sentenced to jail. (Author/JAC)