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 26, 2026.
Aberdeen, Maryland, in Harford County, has about 18,000 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 State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Circuit Court for Harford County. 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: Aberdeen public records, Harford County arrest records, Maryland arrest records and Maryland inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Aberdeen
The FBI lists Aberdeen with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Aberdeen Police Department. It reported 555 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 Harford County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 4,177 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Harford County: the Harford County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Aberdeen 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.
- Aberdeen: 555 for 2025, 551 for 2024, 490 for 2022, 422 for 2020 and 652 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
Aberdeen's 555 arrests in 2025 were up 0.7 percent from 551 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Aberdeen reported 386 arrests, against 328 in the same months of 2025.
Across Harford County, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,234 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Aberdeen Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Aberdeen 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 2024 the jail held about 320 people, down from about 360 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2022, the last year with a capacity figure, was 762 beds, and it ran at 45 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Aberdeen
For Aberdeen the place to look is the case index of the Circuit Court for Harford County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at courts.state.md.us/clerks/harford/records, phone 410-638-3426).
Statewide, Maryland Judiciary Case Search is the free statewide case search of every Maryland court.
Maryland does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Criminal Justice Information System goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Aberdeen
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Maryland Public Information Act the agency must answer within 30 days, with a denial due within 10 working days, and it may charge staff time after the first two hours, plus copying.
- An arrest by the Aberdeen police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at aberdeenmd.gov/departments/city-clerk/maryland-public-information-a... (page title: Maryland Public Information Act Requests | City of Aberdeen), phone 410-272-1600, 60 N. Parke Street Aberdeen, MD 21001, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Harford County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Harford County, through the court records page at courts.state.md.us/clerks/harford/records, phone 410-638-3426.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at harfordcountymd.gov (page title: Public Information Request | Harford County, MD).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the CJIS Central Repository.
The Harford County guide covers every agency in the county: Harford County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Aberdeen each year?
Aberdeen reported 555 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Aberdeen booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Harford County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Aberdeen?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Harford County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Criminal Justice Information System is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Maryland Public Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Aberdeen?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Aberdeen police for its own arrests, the Harford County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Maryland Public Information Act the answer is due within 30 days, with a denial due within 10 working days; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at harfordcountymd.gov.
Is this the official Aberdeen 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.