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 2022. 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 October 9, 2026.
Cape Coral, Florida, in Lee County, has about 233,000 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 State Attorney files charges, a case in the Lee County Circuit Court. 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: Cape Coral public records, Lee County arrest records, Florida arrest records and Florida inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Cape Coral
The FBI lists Cape Coral with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Cape Coral Police Department. It reported 2,654 arrests for 2022, its latest complete year. 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 Lee County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 13,047 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lee County: the Lee County Port Authority (other); the Department of Law Enforcement at Lee County, Fort Myers, the Department of Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement in Lee County, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement at Lee, the Lee County Florida Game Commission and three more (state agency); Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida Southwestern State College (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Lee County (state police).
How Many Arrests Cape Coral Reports
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.
- Cape Coral: 2,654 for 2022.
Across Lee County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,416 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cape Coral Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Cape Coral 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 1,580 people on an average day, down from about 1,710 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 2,009 beds, and it ran at 77 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Lee County Sheriff's Office at sheriffleefl.org/arrest-search (page title: Arrest Search | Lee County Sheriff's Office), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Florida Department of Corrections lists its inmates at fdc.myflorida.com.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Cape Coral
Whether someone was arrested in Cape Coral, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Lee County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at matrix.leeclerk.org); the State Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at sao20.org, phone (941) 637-2104).
Florida is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24 a search, through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Cape Coral
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the agency must answer promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days, and it may charge the copy fees set by statute, plus a special service charge for large requests.
- An arrest by the Cape Coral police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at capecoral.gov/i_want_to/find/records.php (page title: Cape Coral, FL), phone 239-574-3223, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lee County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State Attorney, (941) 637-2104, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lee County Circuit Court, through the court records page at matrix.leeclerk.org.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at leegov.com/publicrecords (page title: Public Records Request Center).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Lee County guide covers every agency in the county: Lee County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cape Coral each year?
Cape Coral reported 2,654 arrests to the FBI for 2022, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cape Coral?
Ask the Lee County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at sheriffleefl.org/arrest-search.
Where are people arrested in Cape Coral booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lee County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Cape Coral?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement: anyone can run a name-based criminal history search online for $24, for $24. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Cape Coral?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cape Coral police for its own arrests, the Lee County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Florida Public Records Act (Chapter 119) the answer is due promptly and in good faith; the statute sets no number of days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at leegov.com/publicrecords.
Is this the official Cape Coral 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.