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 30, 2026.
Fort Wayne, Indiana, in Allen County, has about 273,000 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Allen Circuit and Superior Courts. 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: Fort Wayne public records, Allen County arrest records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Fort Wayne
The FBI lists Fort Wayne with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Fort Wayne Police Department. It reported 4,671 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 Allen County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 512 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Allen County: Purdue University at Fort Wayne (campus police); Parkview Health (other).
How Many Arrests Fort Wayne 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.
- Fort Wayne: 4,671 for 2025, 4,864 for 2024, 4,982 for 2023, 4,160 for 2022, 4,073 for 2021 and 8,002 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Fort Wayne's 4,671 arrests in 2025 were down 4 percent from 4,864 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Fort Wayne reported 2,172 arrests, against 2,784 in the same months of 2025.
Across Allen County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,481 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Fort Wayne Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Fort Wayne 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 2024 the jail held about 720 people, down from about 800 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 732 beds, and it ran at 92 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 Allen County Sheriff's Office at allencountysheriff.org/inmate-search (page title: Inmate Search | Allen County Sheriff), phone (260) 449-7535, 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 person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Indiana Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov/idoc-ofs-1.0.2/ofs.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Fort Wayne
An arrest in Fort Wayne can be traced in three places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Allen County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Allen Circuit and Superior Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at in.gov/courts/local/allen-county); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at allencounty.in.gov/1182/Prosecuting-Attorney, phone (260) 449-7641).
Statewide, mycase.IN.gov is the Indiana courts' free statewide case search.
Indiana is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online, through the Indiana 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 Fort Wayne
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 Indiana Access to Public Records Act the agency must answer within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email, and it may charge a copy fee set by the agency, within statutory limits.
- An arrest by the Fort Wayne police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityoffortwayne.in.gov/616/Obtain-Police-Reports (page title: Obtain Police Reports | Fort Wayne, IN), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Allen County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (260) 449-7535.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, (260) 449-7641, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Allen Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/local/allen-county.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at allencounty.in.gov/472/Public-Records-Request (page title: Public Records Request | Allen County, IN).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Allen County guide covers every agency in the county: Allen County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Fort Wayne each year?
Fort Wayne reported 4,671 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Fort Wayne?
Look on the custody page of the Allen County Sheriff's Office at allencountysheriff.org/inmate-search, or call (260) 449-7535. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Fort Wayne booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Allen County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Fort Wayne?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Indiana State Police: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Fort Wayne?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Fort Wayne police for its own arrests, the Allen County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act the answer is due within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at allencounty.in.gov/472/Public-Records-Request.
Is this the official Fort Wayne 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.