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 28, 2026.
Wildwood, New Jersey, in Cape May County, has about 5,100 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, Cape May 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: Wildwood public records, Cape May County arrest records, New Jersey arrest records and New Jersey inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Wildwood
The FBI lists Wildwood with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Wildwood Police Department. It reported 465 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 Cape May County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 425 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Cape May County: Prosecutor in Cape May County (other); the Cape May County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Wildwood 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.
- Wildwood: 465 for 2025, 378 for 2024, 416 for 2022, 1,269 for 2020 and 1,669 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
Wildwood's 465 arrests in 2025 were up 23 percent from 378 in 2024.
Through March 2026, Wildwood reported 64 arrests, against 44 in the same months of 2025.
Across Cape May County, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,061 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Wildwood Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Wildwood and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 210 people, up from about 180 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 180 beds, and it ran at 98 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 Cape May County Sheriff's Office at capemaycountynj.gov/1680/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Cape May County, NJ), phone 609-463-6428, 301 Cape May Court House, NJ 08210, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the New Jersey Department of Corrections lists its inmates at www20.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/inmatefinder?i=I.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Wildwood
Whether someone was arrested in Wildwood, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Cape May County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at capemaycountynj.gov/189/County-Clerk, phone 609-465-1023); the County Prosecutor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at capemaycountynj.gov/m/directory/department?did=60, phone 609-465-1135).
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 Wildwood
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 Wildwood police: the police department's page SearchSystems verified at wildwoodnj.gov/policedepartment/division (page title: Wildwoodnj), phone (609) 522-0222, 4400 New Jersey Avenue Wildwood, NJ 08260, Monday through Friday 7:00am to 10:00am., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Cape May County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 609-463-6428.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the County Prosecutor, 609-465-1135, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of New Jersey, Cape May County, through the court records page at capemaycountynj.gov/189/County-Clerk, phone 609-465-1023.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police.
The Cape May County guide covers every agency in the county: Cape May County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Wildwood each year?
Wildwood reported 465 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Wildwood?
Ask the Cape May County Sheriff's Office at 609-463-6428; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at capemaycountynj.gov/1680/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Wildwood booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Cape May County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Wildwood?
The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Cape May 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 Wildwood?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Wildwood police for its own arrests, the Cape May 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 Wildwood 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.