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 25, 2026.
Princeton, New Jersey, in Mercer County, has about 31,000 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 County Prosecutor files charges, a case in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer 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: Princeton public records, Mercer County arrest records, New Jersey arrest records and New Jersey inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Princeton
The FBI lists Princeton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Princeton Police Department. It reported 233 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 Mercer County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 411 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Mercer County: The College of New Jersey and Princeton University (campus police); the Department of Human Services (state agency); Prosecutor in Mercer County (other); the Mercer County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Princeton 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.
- Princeton: 233 for 2025, 203 for 2024, 216 for 2023, 138 for 2022, 130 for 2021 and 200 for 2020.
Princeton's 233 arrests in 2025 were up 15 percent from 203 in 2024.
Through September 2026, Princeton reported 132 arrests, against 167 in the same months of 2025.
Across Mercer County, the 11 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,190 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Princeton Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Princeton 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 2023 the jail held about 440 people, up from about 440 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 824 beds, and it ran at 54 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the New Jersey Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at www20.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatefinder?i=I.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Princeton
An arrest in Princeton can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at njcourts.gov/courts/vicinages/mercer/offices, phone 609-571-4200); the County Prosecutor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at mercercounty.org/departments/emergency-management-public-safety/pro...).
Statewide, New Jersey Courts Public Access is the Judiciary's free online case search for civil and criminal cases.
New Jersey does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the New Jersey State Police 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 Princeton
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Open Public Records Act the agency must answer within 7 business days, and it may charge copying at 5 cents a page for letter size.
- An arrest by the Princeton police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at princetonnj.gov/363/Police-Department (page title: Police Department | Princeton, NJ), phone 609-921-2100, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Prosecutor handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County, through the court records page at njcourts.gov/courts/vicinages/mercer/offices, phone 609-571-4200.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police.
The Mercer County guide covers every agency in the county: Mercer County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Princeton each year?
Princeton reported 233 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
Where are people arrested in Princeton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Princeton?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the New Jersey State Police is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Open Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Princeton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Princeton police for its own arrests, the Mercer County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Open Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 business days.
Is this the official Princeton 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.