SearchSystems Editorial

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 October 2, 2026.

About this guide

Middlesex County, Massachusetts, has about 1.7 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by 54 city agencies and 14 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 Middlesex 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: Middlesex County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Middlesex County

The Middlesex Sheriff's Office, MA | Official Website is the county law enforcement agency of Middlesex County.

The FBI lists 13 cities in Middlesex County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • Cambridge, 121,186 residents: 1,872 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Lowell, 120,418 residents: 3,961 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Newton, 90,700 residents: 402 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Somerville, 82,149 residents: 179 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Framingham, 73,361 residents: 1,049 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Malden, 66,693 residents: 295 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Waltham, 65,849 residents: 641 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Medford, 59,898 residents: 449 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Everett, 51,825 residents: 560 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Woburn, 43,895 residents: 410 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Marlborough, 42,169 residents: 560 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Watertown, 35,985 residents: 570 arrests reported for 2024.

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 Middlesex County: Regis College, Brandeis University, Bentley University, Framingham State University and eight more (campus police); the Middlesex County Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (state agency); the Middlesex County State Police (state police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Middlesex 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.

  • Lowell: 3,961 for 2025, 2,944 for 2024, 2,871 for 2023, 2,734 for 2022, 2,416 for 2021 and 2,527 for 2020.
  • Cambridge: 1,872 for 2025, 1,359 for 2024, 1,126 for 2023, 912 for 2022, 933 for 2021 and 871 for 2020.
  • Framingham: 1,049 for 2025, 916 for 2024, 678 for 2023, 611 for 2022, 731 for 2021 and 685 for 2020.
  • Waltham: 641 for 2025, 676 for 2024, 666 for 2023, 276 for 2021, 335 for 2020 and 492 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
  • Everett: 560 for 2025, 554 for 2024, 563 for 2023, 487 for 2022, 471 for 2021 and 439 for 2020.
  • Marlborough: 560 for 2025, 412 for 2024, 364 for 2023, 388 for 2022, 403 for 2021 and 438 for 2020.
  • Natick: 502 for 2025, 507 for 2024, 521 for 2023, 557 for 2022, 533 for 2021 and 386 for 2020.
  • Medford: 449 for 2025, 503 for 2024, 380 for 2023, 264 for 2022, 202 for 2021 and 201 for 2020.
  • Woburn: 410 for 2025, 435 for 2024, 371 for 2023, 354 for 2022, 422 for 2021 and 388 for 2020.
  • Newton: 402 for 2025, 403 for 2024, 385 for 2023, 420 for 2022, 361 for 2021 and 386 for 2020.
  • Tewksbury: 402 for 2025, 409 for 2024, 632 for 2021, 515 for 2020 and 757 for 2019; 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
  • Wilmington: 336 for 2025, 410 for 2024, 363 for 2023, 283 for 2022, 248 for 2020 and 332 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.

Together, the 51 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,399 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 15,399 in 2025 against 13,905 in 2024, up 11 percent.

Through March 2026, the 40 agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,859 arrests, against 2,957 in the same months of 2025.

Arlington, Tyngsboro and Watertown reported only part of 2025 (11 months, 11 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Middlesex County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Middlesex 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 710 people, down from about 790 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,464 beds, and it ran at 44 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 Middlesex Sheriff's Office, MA | Official Website at middlesexsheriff.org (page title: Middlesex Sheriff's Office, MA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.

A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Massachusetts Department of Correction, whose inmate locator is at mass.gov/how-to/find-someone-housed-in-a-massachusetts-prison.

How to Find Out About an Arrest in Middlesex County

For Middlesex County the place to look is the case index of the Middlesex County Superior Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at mass.gov/search-court-dockets-calendars-and-case-information).

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 Middlesex 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 Middlesex Sheriff's Office, MA | Official Website: ask its records unit.
  • An arrest in Cambridge, Lowell, Newton, Somerville, Framingham, Malden 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 Regis College, Brandeis University or Bentley University: the records office of the agency involved.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Middlesex County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov.
  • Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.

Cities in Middlesex County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the 13 cities in Middlesex County: the twelve named above and Melrose. The FBI's list also carries the Acton Police Department, the Arlington Police Department, the Ashby Police Department and 38 more as city agencies in Middlesex County; Acton, Arlington, Ashby and 38 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 Middlesex County Superior Court.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Middlesex 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 Middlesex County each year?

Lowell reported 3,961 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 51 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 15,399 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Middlesex County?

Ask the Middlesex Sheriff's Office, MA | Official Website; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at middlesexsheriff.org.

Where are people arrested in Middlesex County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Middlesex Sheriff's Office, MA | Official Website; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Middlesex 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 Middlesex County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Middlesex Sheriff's Office, MA | Official Website 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 Middlesex 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.