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 September 28, 2026.
Cape May County, New Jersey, has about 94,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Cape May County Sheriff's Office, 13 city agencies and two 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 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 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: Cape May County public records, New Jersey arrest records, New Jersey inmate search and New Jersey criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Cape May County
The Cape May County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Cape May County. It reported 425 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists 11 cities in Cape May County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ocean City, 11,219 residents: 264 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wildwood, 5,098 residents: 465 arrests reported for 2025.
- North Wildwood, 3,555 residents: 336 arrests reported for 2025.
- Wildwood Crest, 3,036 residents: 141 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cape May, 2,742 residents: 113 arrests reported for 2025.
- Sea Isle City, 2,122 residents: 120 arrests reported for 2025.
- Avalon, 1,216 residents: 25 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Cape May, 995 residents: 4 arrests reported for 2020.
- Stone Harbor, 784 residents: 29 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Wildwood, 536 residents: 3 arrests reported for 2025.
- Cape May Point, 297 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2020.
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 Cape May County: Prosecutor in Cape May County (other); the Cape May County State Police (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Cape May 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.
- Middle Township: 700 for 2025, 681 for 2024, 836 for 2023, 608 for 2022, 550 for 2021 and 758 for 2020.
- 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.
- Lower Township: 440 for 2025, 295 for 2024, 265 for 2023, 243 for 2022, 549 for 2020 and 766 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Cape May County Sheriff's Office: 425 for 2025, 379 for 2024, 389 for 2023, 261 for 2022 and 666 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- North Wildwood: 336 for 2025, 229 for 2024, 84 for 2023, 111 for 2022, 669 for 2020 and 997 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Ocean City: 264 for 2025, 358 for 2024, 736 for 2022, 296 for 2020 and 395 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- Wildwood Crest: 141 for 2025, 147 for 2024, 113 for 2023, 133 for 2022, 403 for 2020 and 244 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Sea Isle City: 120 for 2025, 130 for 2024 and 103 for 2023.
- Cape May: 113 for 2025, 77 for 2024, 89 for 2023, 44 for 2022 and 142 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
- Stone Harbor: 29 for 2025, 32 for 2024, 18 for 2023, 45 for 2022, 84 for 2020 and 127 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Avalon: 25 for 2025, 31 for 2024, 27 for 2022, 227 for 2020 and 390 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
- West Wildwood: 3 for 2025, 27 for 2020 and 31 for 2019; 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the 12 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,061 arrests that year. The 11 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 3,058 in 2025 against 2,737 in 2024, up 12 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Cape May County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Cape May 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 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 Cape May County
An arrest in Cape May County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: 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 Cape May 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 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 Cape May County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 609-463-6428.
- An arrest in Ocean City, Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Cape May, Sea Isle City 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 Prosecutor in Cape May County or the Cape May County State Police: the records office of the agency involved.
- 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.
Cities in Cape May County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 11 of the 12 cities in Cape May County: Ocean City, Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Cape May, Sea Isle City, Avalon, West Cape May, Stone Harbor, West Wildwood and Cape May Point. Woodbine has no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Lower Township Police Department and the Middle Township Police Department as city agencies in Cape May County; Lower Township and Middle Township 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 Superior Court of New Jersey, Cape May County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Cape May County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Wildwood (5,098)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Cape May County each year?
Middle Township reported 700 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 12 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 3,061 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Cape May County?
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 Cape May County 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 Cape May County?
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 Cape May County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Cape May County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Open Public Records Act the answer is due within 7 business days.
Is this the official Cape May 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.