Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and September 25, 2026.
Carlsbad, California, in San Diego County, has about 114,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Carlsbad public records, San Diego County arrest records, California arrest records and California inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Carlsbad
The FBI lists Carlsbad with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Carlsbad Police Department. It reported 1,752 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 4,913 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in San Diego County: San Diego State University, San Diego Community College, California State University at San Marcos, the University of California at San Diego and two more (campus police); the Port of San Diego Harbor (other); California State Parks at Colorado Desert, California State Parks at Ocotillo Wells, California State Parks at San Diego Coast and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection at San Diego (state agency); the Highway Patrol's Border Division, San Diego, Oceanside and El Cajon Area Offices, the Highway Patrol's Border Investigative Services Unit, the Highway Patrol at Otay Mesa Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility and the Highway Patrol at San Onofre Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility (state police).
How Many Arrests Carlsbad Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Carlsbad: 1,752 for 2025, 2,260 for 2024, 2,480 for 2023, 2,856 for 2022, 3,697 for 2021 and 2,871 for 2020.
Carlsbad's 1,752 arrests in 2025 were down 22 percent from 2,260 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Carlsbad reported 1,396 arrests, against 1,364 in the same months of 2025.
Across San Diego County, the 15 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 51,876 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Carlsbad Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Carlsbad and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2025 the jail held about 4,410 people, down from about 6,280 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 6,180 beds, and it ran at 71 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation lists its inmates at cdcr.ca.gov/search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Carlsbad
For Carlsbad the place to look is the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sdcourt.ca.gov/sdcourt/generalinformation/accesscourtrecords).
California does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the California Department of Justice goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Carlsbad
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the California Public Records Act the agency must answer within 10 days, with up to 14 more days in unusual circumstances, and it may charge the direct cost of copying only, not staff time.
- An arrest by the Carlsbad police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at carlsbadca.gov/departments/police/police/records-reports/request-a-... (page title: Request a Police Report | Carlsbad, CA), phone 442-339-2119, 2560 Orion Way Carlsbad, CA 92010, Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the San Diego County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, through the court records page at sdcourt.ca.gov.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at pra.sandiegocounty.gov (page title: Public Records Request CenterNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.
The San Diego County guide covers every agency in the county: San Diego County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Carlsbad each year?
Carlsbad reported 1,752 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Carlsbad booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the San Diego County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Carlsbad?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the California Department of Justice is not public; you can get your own for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the California Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Carlsbad?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Carlsbad police for its own arrests, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the California Public Records Act the answer is due within 10 days, with up to 14 more days in unusual circumstances; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at pra.sandiegocounty.gov.
Is this the official Carlsbad website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.