Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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.
Essex County, Massachusetts, has about 824,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by 34 city agencies and eight campus, state or other agencies. An arrest 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 each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Essex County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Essex County
The Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA is the county law enforcement agency of Essex County.
The FBI lists 11 cities in Essex County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Lynn, 103,489 residents: 2,380 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lawrence, 89,332 residents: 1,354 arrests reported for 2025.
- Haverhill, 68,291 residents: 1,318 arrests reported for 2025.
- Peabody, 55,418 residents: 866 arrests reported for 2025.
- Methuen, 54,272 residents: 582 arrests reported for 2024.
- Salem, 45,677 residents: 582 arrests reported for 2025.
- Beverly, 43,223 residents: 361 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gloucester, 30,491 residents: 586 arrests reported for 2025.
- Newburyport, 19,163 residents: 71 arrests reported for 2025.
- Newburyport, 19,163 residents: 204 arrests reported for 2025.
- Amesbury, 17,617 residents: 277 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported 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 Each Agency Reports in Essex County
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.
- Lynn: 2,380 for 2025, 2,461 for 2024, 1,992 for 2023, 2,469 for 2022, 1,848 for 2020 and 1,966 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Lawrence: 1,354 for 2025, 1,644 for 2024, 1,856 for 2023, 1,720 for 2022, 1,550 for 2021 and 1,561 for 2020.
- Haverhill: 1,318 for 2025, 1,457 for 2024, 1,572 for 2023, 1,759 for 2022, 1,702 for 2021 and 1,401 for 2020.
- Peabody: 866 for 2025, 874 for 2024, 700 for 2022, 641 for 2021, 541 for 2020 and 765 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Gloucester: 586 for 2025, 518 for 2024, 515 for 2023, 549 for 2022, 465 for 2021 and 368 for 2020.
- Salem: 582 for 2025, 564 for 2024, 577 for 2023, 661 for 2022, 544 for 2021 and 502 for 2020.
- Danvers: 404 for 2025, 320 for 2024, 319 for 2023, 344 for 2022, 294 for 2021 and 347 for 2020.
- Beverly: 361 for 2025, 258 for 2023, 254 for 2022, 211 for 2021, 221 for 2020 and 290 for 2019; 2024 is missing months.
- North Andover: 303 for 2025, 274 for 2024, 251 for 2023, 234 for 2022, 211 for 2021 and 277 for 2020.
- Amesbury: 277 for 2025, 340 for 2024, 303 for 2023, 339 for 2022, 231 for 2020 and 304 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Saugus: 236 for 2025, 199 for 2024, 206 for 2023, 183 for 2021, 219 for 2020 and 270 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Andover: 232 for 2025, 175 for 2024, 188 for 2023, 205 for 2022, 96 for 2021 and 56 for 2020.
Together, the 32 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 10,140 arrests that year. The 29 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 9,516 in 2025 against 9,955 in 2024, down 4.4 percent.
Methuen and Middleton reported only part of 2025 (10 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Essex County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Essex County 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 Essex County
An arrest in Essex County 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 Essex County
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 Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Lynn, Lawrence, Haverhill, Peabody, Methuen, Salem or another of the cities listed above: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- An arrest by the Essex County State Police, Salem State University or Merrimack College: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Essex County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 11 of the ten cities in Essex County: Lynn, Lawrence, Haverhill, Peabody, Methuen, Salem, Beverly, Gloucester, Newburyport and Amesbury. The FBI's list also carries the Andover Police Department, the Boxford Police Department, the Danvers Police Department and 20 more as city agencies in Essex County; Andover, Boxford, Danvers and 20 more are not among the cities above.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Essex County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Essex County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Essex County each year?
Lynn reported 2,380 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 32 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 10,140 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Essex County?
Ask the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at essexsheriffma.org.
Where are people arrested in Essex County 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 Essex County?
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 Essex County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Essex County Sheriff’s Department | Essex County, MA for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Massachusetts Public Records Law the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Essex County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.