SearchSystems Editorial

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 30, 2026.

About this guide

Passaic County, New Jersey, has about 527,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Passaic County Sheriff's Office, 16 city agencies and three 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, Passaic 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: Passaic County public records, New Jersey arrest records, New Jersey inmate search and New Jersey criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Passaic County

The Passaic County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Passaic County. It reported 1,005 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists 13 cities in Passaic County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported, the largest twelve first; the rest are named in the cities section below:

  • Paterson, 160,463 residents: 2,251 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Clifton, 90,322 residents: 870 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Passaic, 70,722 residents: 1,330 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Hawthorne, 20,006 residents: 176 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Woodland Park, 13,477 residents: 63 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Ringwood, 11,762 residents: 44 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Wanaque, 11,346 residents: 100 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Pompton Lakes, 11,156 residents: 66 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Totowa, 11,064 residents: 97 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Haledon, 9,063 residents: 195 arrests reported for 2025.
  • North Haledon, 8,854 residents: 12 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Bloomingdale, 7,795 residents: 99 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 Passaic County: William Paterson University (campus police); Prosecutor in Passaic County (other); the Passaic County State Police (state police).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Passaic 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.

  • Paterson: 2,251 for 2025, 1,904 for 2024, 1,740 for 2023, 2,207 for 2022, 4,683 for 2020 and 6,169 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Passaic: 1,330 for 2025, 1,218 for 2024, 1,219 for 2023, 1,246 for 2022, 3,014 for 2020 and 4,166 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Passaic County Sheriff's Office: 1,005 for 2025, 992 for 2024 and 3,516 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
  • Clifton: 870 for 2025, 799 for 2024, 699 for 2022, 1,522 for 2020 and 2,129 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.
  • Wayne Township: 835 for 2025, 877 for 2024, 897 for 2023, 773 for 2022, 1,187 for 2020 and 1,751 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Haledon: 195 for 2025, 442 for 2022 and 966 for 2019; 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
  • Hawthorne: 176 for 2025, 120 for 2024, 139 for 2023, 141 for 2022, 161 for 2021 and 279 for 2020.
  • Little Falls Township: 174 for 2025, 206 for 2024, 185 for 2023, 122 for 2022, 245 for 2020 and 477 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • West Milford Township: 152 for 2025, 153 for 2024, 161 for 2023, 139 for 2022, 155 for 2020 and 209 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Wanaque: 100 for 2025, 83 for 2024, 116 for 2023, 91 for 2022, 206 for 2020 and 222 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Bloomingdale: 99 for 2025, 258 for 2024, 113 for 2023, 102 for 2022, 165 for 2020 and 385 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Totowa: 97 for 2025, 120 for 2024, 93 for 2022, 141 for 2020 and 152 for 2019; 2021 and 2023 are missing months.

Together, the 17 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,540 arrests that year. The 16 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 7,345 in 2025 against 6,966 in 2024, up 5.4 percent.

Through June 2026, the 13 agencies with every month so far on file reported 3,200 arrests, against 2,906 in the same months of 2025.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Passaic County Are Held

A person kept in custody after an arrest in Passaic 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 2020 the jail held about 560 people, down from about 620 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 940 beds, and it ran at 65 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.

SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Passaic County Sheriff's Office at pcsheriff.org/corrections/inmate_search/index.php (page title: Passaic County Sheriff), phone 973-881-4200, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.

That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.

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 Passaic County

Whether someone was arrested in Passaic County, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Passaic County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Passaic County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at records.passaiccountynj.org/press/Clerk/ClerkHome.aspx?op=basic); the County Prosecutor, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at njoag.gov/passaic-county-prosecutor-assumes-oversight-of-paterson-p..., phone 609-292-4791).

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 Passaic 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 Passaic County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 973-881-4200.
  • An arrest in Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, Hawthorne, Woodland Park, Ringwood 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 William Paterson University, Prosecutor in Passaic County or the Passaic 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, 609-292-4791, handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Superior Court of New Jersey, Passaic County, through the court records page at records.passaiccountynj.org.
  • Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the State Police.

Cities in Passaic County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the 13 cities in Passaic County: the twelve named above and Prospect Park. The FBI's list also carries the West Milford Township Police Department, the Little Falls Township Police Department and the Wayne Township Police Department as city agencies in Passaic County; West Milford Township, Little Falls Township and Wayne 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, Passaic County.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Passaic County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:

Frequently Asked Questions

How many arrests are made in Passaic County each year?

Paterson reported 2,251 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 17 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 7,540 between them.

How do I find out if someone is in jail in Passaic County?

Look on the custody page of the Passaic County Sheriff's Office at pcsheriff.org, or call 973-881-4200. It covers people booked into the county jail.

Where are people arrested in Passaic County booked?

Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Passaic County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.

Are arrest records public in Passaic County?

The court files of criminal cases in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Passaic 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 Passaic County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Passaic 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 Passaic 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.