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.
Salem, Massachusetts, in Essex 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Essex County Superior 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: Salem public records, Essex County arrest records, Massachusetts arrest records and Massachusetts inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Salem
The FBI lists Salem with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Salem Police Department. It reported 582 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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Essex County: the Essex County State Police (state police); Salem State University, Merrimack College, Endicott College, Northern Essex Community College and two more (campus police); the Essex County Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (state agency).
How Many Arrests Salem 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.
- Salem: 582 for 2025, 564 for 2024, 577 for 2023, 661 for 2022, 544 for 2021 and 502 for 2020.
Salem's 582 arrests in 2025 were up 3.2 percent from 564 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Salem reported 305 arrests, against 345 in the same months of 2025.
Across Essex County, the 32 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,140 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Salem Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Salem 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 2025 the jail held about 900 people, down from about 1,410 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,469 beds, and it ran at 68 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 Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA at essexsheriffma.org (page title: Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Massachusetts Department of Correction lists its inmates at mass.gov/how-to/find-someone-housed-in-a-massachusetts-prison.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Salem
An arrest in Salem can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Essex County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mass.gov/locations/essex-county-superior-court, phone (978) 744-5500); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at essexcountyda.com).
Statewide, masscourts.org is the Massachusetts Trial Court's free online case search.
Massachusetts is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: open access iCORI lets anyone request limited conviction information by name, for $25 a search, through the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. 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 Salem
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Massachusetts Public Records Law the agency must answer within 10 business days, and it may charge staff time after the first four hours for towns and two for the state, plus copying.
- An arrest by the Salem police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at salemma.gov/956/Records (page title: Records | Salem, MA), phone 978-744-0171, 95 Margin Street Salem, MA 01970, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Essex County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov, phone (978) 744-5500.
- Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.
The Essex County guide covers every agency in the county: Essex County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Salem each year?
Salem reported 582 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Salem?
Ask the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at essexsheriffma.org.
Where are people arrested in Salem booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Salem?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services: open access iCORI lets anyone request limited conviction information by name, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Massachusetts Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Salem?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Salem police for its own arrests, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA for the sheriff's. Under the Massachusetts Public Records Law the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Salem 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.