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.
West Lafayette, Indiana, in Tippecanoe County, has about 46,000 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 Tippecanoe 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: West Lafayette public records, Tippecanoe County arrest records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in West Lafayette
The FBI lists West Lafayette with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as West Lafayette Police Department. It reported 1,069 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 Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 981 arrests for 2024.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Tippecanoe County: Purdue University (campus police).
How Many Arrests West Lafayette 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.
- West Lafayette: 1,069 for 2025, 898 for 2024, 1,078 for 2023, 707 for 2022, 394 for 2021 and 1,097 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
West Lafayette's 1,069 arrests in 2025 were up 19 percent from 898 in 2024.
Through July 2026, West Lafayette reported 603 arrests, against 610 in the same months of 2025.
Across Tippecanoe County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,127 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in West Lafayette Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in West Lafayette 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 550 people, up from about 520 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 603 beds, and it ran at 84 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 Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office at tippecanoe.in.gov/466/Corrections (page title: Corrections | Tippecanoe County, IN), phone 765-423-9388, 2640 Duncan Road Lafayette, IN 47904, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Indiana Department of Correction lists its inmates at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov/idoc-ofs-1.0.2/ofs.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in West Lafayette
An arrest in West Lafayette can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Tippecanoe Circuit and Superior Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at tippecanoe.in.gov/854/Tippecanoe-Court-Records, phone 765-423-9326); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at tcprosecutor.com, phone 765-423-9305).
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 West Lafayette
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 West Lafayette police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at westlafayette.in.gov/services/public-records-request (page title: Public Records Request | West Lafayette, IN), phone 765-775-5200, 711 W. Navajo St. West Lafayette, IN 47906, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 765-423-9388.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 765-423-9305, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Tippecanoe Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at tippecanoe.in.gov, phone 765-423-9326.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at tippecanoe.in.gov/524/Public-Record-Requests (page title: Public Record Requests | Tippecanoe County, IN).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Tippecanoe County guide covers every agency in the county: Tippecanoe County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in West Lafayette each year?
West Lafayette reported 1,069 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in West Lafayette?
Ask the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office at 765-423-9388; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at tippecanoe.in.gov/466/Corrections.
Where are people arrested in West Lafayette booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in West Lafayette?
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 West Lafayette?
From the agency that made the arrest: the West Lafayette police for its own arrests, the Tippecanoe 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 tippecanoe.in.gov/524/Public-Record-Requests.
Is this the official West Lafayette 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.