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 26, 2026.
Berkeley, Illinois, in Cook County, has about 5,200 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's Attorney files charges, a case in the Circuit Court of Cook County. 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: Berkeley public records, Cook County arrest records, Illinois arrest records and Illinois inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Berkeley
The FBI lists Berkeley with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Berkeley Police Department. It reported 137 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 Cook County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 3,038 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Cook County: the University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Oakton Community College and ten more (campus police); Canadian Pacific Railway, the Metra Police Department, the Chicago Heights Park District, Chicago Fire Department Arson Investigations and 11 more (other).
How Many Arrests Berkeley 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.
- Berkeley: 137 for 2025 and 164 for 2024.
Berkeley's 137 arrests in 2025 were down 16 percent from 164 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Berkeley reported 49 arrests, against 86 in the same months of 2025.
Across Cook County, the 100 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 71,187 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Berkeley Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Berkeley is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 4,790 people, down from about 5,770 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 7,084 beds, and it ran at 73 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Cook County Sheriff's Office at cookcountyil.gov/service/locate-inmate (page title: Locate an Inmate), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Illinois Department of Corrections lists its inmates at idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Berkeley
An arrest in Berkeley can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Cook County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Circuit Court of Cook County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at cookcountyil.gov/service/court-records-and-archives); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at cookcountyil.gov/agency/states-attorney, phone (312) 603-1880).
Illinois is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: conviction information is public under the Uniform Conviction Information Act, through the Illinois State Police. 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 Berkeley
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 Illinois Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 5 business days, with one 5-day extension, and it may charge copying only after the first 50 pages.
- An arrest by the Berkeley police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at berkeley.il.us/police (page title: Police | Berkeley, IL), phone 708-449-8224, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Cook County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (312) 603-1880, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court of Cook County, through the court records page at cookcountyil.gov.
- Your own statewide record: a name-based or fingerprint-based request to the Illinois State Police.
The Cook County guide covers every agency in the county: Cook County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Berkeley each year?
Berkeley reported 137 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Berkeley?
Look on the custody page of the Cook County Sheriff's Office at cookcountyil.gov/service/locate-inmate. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Berkeley booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cook County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Berkeley?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Illinois State Police: conviction information is public under the Uniform Conviction Information Act. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Berkeley?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Berkeley police for its own arrests, the Cook County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 5 business days, with one 5-day extension.
Is this the official Berkeley 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.