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 9, 2026.
Plymouth County, Massachusetts, has about 542,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by 27 city agencies and four 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 Plymouth 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: Plymouth County public records, Massachusetts arrest records, Massachusetts inmate search and Massachusetts criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Plymouth County
The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department - MA POST Commission is the county law enforcement agency of Plymouth County.
The FBI lists two cities in Plymouth County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Brockton, 105,788 residents: 2,124 arrests reported for 2025.
- Bridgewater Town, 29,167 residents: 437 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 Plymouth County: Bridgewater State University and Massasoit Community College (campus police); the Plymouth County Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (state agency); the Plymouth County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Plymouth 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.
- Brockton: 2,124 for 2025, 2,462 for 2024, 2,397 for 2023, 2,440 for 2022, 2,319 for 2021 and 2,819 for 2020.
- Plymouth: 652 for 2025, 574 for 2024, 591 for 2023, 630 for 2022, 725 for 2021 and 737 for 2020.
- Wareham: 638 for 2025, 539 for 2024, 546 for 2023, 538 for 2022, 491 for 2021 and 565 for 2020.
- Abington: 538 for 2025, 474 for 2024, 423 for 2023, 368 for 2022, 305 for 2021 and 406 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Bridgewater Town: 437 for 2025, 395 for 2024, 408 for 2023, 358 for 2022, 307 for 2021 and 319 for 2020.
- Middleboro: 423 for 2025, 462 for 2024, 452 for 2022, 431 for 2021, 421 for 2020 and 574 for 2019; 2023 is missing months.
- Rockland: 336 for 2025, 374 for 2024, 343 for 2023, 293 for 2022, 329 for 2021 and 320 for 2020.
- Whitman: 220 for 2025, 214 for 2024, 174 for 2023, 153 for 2022, 179 for 2021 and 201 for 2020.
- Marshfield: 209 for 2025, 202 for 2024, 206 for 2023, 290 for 2022, 276 for 2021 and 287 for 2020.
- West Bridgewater: 174 for 2025, 158 for 2024, 124 for 2023, 118 for 2022, 179 for 2021 and 114 for 2020.
- Lakeville: 157 for 2025, 110 for 2024, 166 for 2023, 101 for 2022, 110 for 2021 and 115 for 2020.
- East Bridgewater: 135 for 2025, 147 for 2024, 186 for 2023, 224 for 2022, 194 for 2021 and 154 for 2020.
Together, the 27 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,201 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 7,201 in 2025 against 7,275 in 2024, down 1 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Plymouth County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Plymouth 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 1,040 people, down from about 1,090 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,140 beds, and it ran at 46 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 Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department - MA POST Commission at mapostcommission.gov/current-agency/plymouth-county-sheriffs-depart... (page title: Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department | MA POST Commission), 84 State Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02109, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 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 Plymouth County
Whether someone was arrested in Plymouth County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Plymouth 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/plymouth-district-court, phone (508) 747-8400); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at plymouthda.com/contact, phone 508-584-8120).
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 Plymouth County
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 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 Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department - MA POST Commission: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Brockton or Bridgewater Town: 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 Bridgewater State University, Massasoit Community College or the Plymouth County Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 508-584-8120, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Plymouth County Superior Court, through the court records page at mass.gov/locations/plymouth-district-court, phone (508) 747-8400.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at plymouth-ma.gov/894/Public-Records-Requests (page title: Public Records Requests | Plymouth, MA).
- Your own statewide record: a personal CORI request, free once a year online.
The other Plymouth County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, traffic tickets, DUI, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Plymouth County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Plymouth County: Brockton and Bridgewater Town. The FBI's list also carries the Middleboro Police Department, the Abington Police Department, the Carver Police Department and 22 more as city agencies in Plymouth County; Middleboro, Abington, Carver and 22 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 Plymouth County Superior Court.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Plymouth County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Bridgewater Town (29,167)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Plymouth County each year?
Brockton reported 2,124 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 27 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 7,201 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Plymouth County?
Ask the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department - MA POST Commission; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at mapostcommission.gov.
Where are people arrested in Plymouth County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department - MA POST Commission; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Plymouth 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 Plymouth County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department - MA POST Commission 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at plymouth-ma.gov/894/Public-Records-Requests.
Is this the official Plymouth 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.