SearchSystems Editorial

Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 on September 23, 2026.

About this guide

San Mateo County, California, has about 743,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, 16 city agencies and four campus, state or other agencies. An arrest 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 Mateo. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.

This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.

Related guides: San Mateo County public records, California arrest records, California inmate search and California criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in San Mateo County

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for San Mateo County. It reported 3,068 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists 15 cities in San Mateo County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • San Mateo, 103,006 residents: 1,923 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Daly City, 101,418 residents: 1,596 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Redwood City, 82,982 residents: 1,258 arrests reported for 2025.
  • South San Francisco, 64,660 residents: 1,284 arrests reported for 2025.
  • San Bruno, 42,035 residents: 595 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Pacifica, 37,056 residents: 476 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Menlo Park, 33,040 residents: 975 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Foster City, 32,657 residents: 330 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Burlingame, 30,885 residents: 359 arrests reported for 2025.
  • East Palo Alto, 29,296 residents: 543 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Belmont, 27,132 residents: 252 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Hillsborough, 11,171 residents: 21 arrests reported for 2025.

A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in San Mateo County: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Mateo County and Union Pacific Railroad in San Mateo County (other); the Highway Patrol's Redwood City Area Office (state police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in San Mateo County

The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.

  • San Mateo County Sheriff's Office: 3,068 for 2025, 2,582 for 2024, 2,658 for 2023, 2,258 for 2022, 2,906 for 2020 and 4,837 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • San Mateo: 1,923 for 2025, 1,960 for 2024, 1,839 for 2023, 2,279 for 2022, 2,531 for 2020 and 2,929 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Daly City: 1,596 for 2025, 1,910 for 2024, 1,878 for 2023, 1,760 for 2022, 1,880 for 2020 and 3,007 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • South San Francisco: 1,284 for 2025, 1,501 for 2024, 1,520 for 2023, 1,664 for 2022, 1,672 for 2020 and 2,199 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Redwood City: 1,258 for 2025, 1,253 for 2024, 1,216 for 2023, 1,741 for 2022, 1,572 for 2020 and 2,291 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Menlo Park: 975 for 2025, 754 for 2024, 727 for 2023, 847 for 2022, 805 for 2020 and 1,068 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • San Bruno: 595 for 2025, 811 for 2024, 1,022 for 2023, 1,366 for 2022, 1,162 for 2020 and 2,022 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Colma: 581 for 2025, 709 for 2024, 810 for 2023, 560 for 2022, 466 for 2020 and 812 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • East Palo Alto: 543 for 2025, 480 for 2024, 371 for 2023, 383 for 2022, 504 for 2020 and 774 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Pacifica: 476 for 2025, 531 for 2024, 660 for 2023, 565 for 2022, 775 for 2020 and 917 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Burlingame: 359 for 2025, 352 for 2024, 298 for 2023, 554 for 2022, 781 for 2020 and 870 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Foster City: 330 for 2025, 320 for 2024, 176 for 2022, 291 for 2020 and 426 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.

Together, the 17 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 13,525 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 13,525 in 2025 against 13,713 in 2024, down 1.4 percent.

Through August 2026, the 13 agencies with every month so far on file reported 6,173 arrests, against 6,416 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in San Mateo County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in San Mateo County 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 930 people, down from about 1,020 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,360 beds, and it ran at 77 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.

A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, whose inmate locator is at cdcr.ca.gov/search.

How to Find Out About an Arrest in San Mateo County

Whether someone was arrested in San Mateo County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sanmateo.courts.ca.gov/online-services/information-accessing-your-c..., phone 650-261-5100); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at smcgov.org/da, phone (650) 363-4636).

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 San Mateo County

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 San Mateo County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in San Mateo, Daly City, Redwood City, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Pacifica or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
  • An arrest by San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Mateo County or Union Pacific Railroad in San Mateo County: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (650) 363-4636, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo, through the court records page at sanmateo.courts.ca.gov, phone 650-261-5100.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at smcgov.org (page title: Public Records Act Request Form | County of San Mateo, CA).
  • Your own statewide record: a Record Review through Live Scan fingerprinting, form BCIA 8016RR, $25.

Cities in San Mateo County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 15 of the 20 cities in San Mateo County: the twelve named above and Atherton, Brisbane and Colma. San Carlos, Millbrae, Half Moon Bay, Woodside and Portola Valley have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Broadmoor Police Department as a city agency in San Mateo County; Broadmoor is not among the cities above.

Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in San Mateo County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in San Mateo County each year?

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office reported 3,068 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 17 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 13,525 between them.

Where are people arrested in San Mateo County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in San Mateo County?

The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo 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 San Mateo County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 smcgov.org.

Is this the official San Mateo County website?

No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.