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.
Watervliet, New York, in Albany County, has about 10,000 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Albany County Supreme and County Courts. 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: Watervliet public records, Albany County arrest records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Watervliet
The FBI lists Watervliet with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Watervliet Police Department. It reported 358 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 Albany County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 475 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Albany County: the Albany State University of New York Police and the State University of New York at Albany (Plaza) (campus police).
How Many Arrests Watervliet Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Watervliet: 358 for 2025, 420 for 2024 and 401 for 2023.
Watervliet's 358 arrests in 2025 were down 15 percent from 420 in 2024.
Across Albany County, the nine agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,780 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Watervliet Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Watervliet 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.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 570 people on an average day, up from about 490 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 938 beds, and it ran at 48 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 Albany County Sheriff's Office at albanycountyny.gov/sheriff (page title: County Sheriff | Albany County, NY), 996 Madison Avenue, Room 120 Albany, NY 12208, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision lists its inmates at nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Watervliet
Whether someone was arrested in Watervliet, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Albany County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at albanycountyny.gov/clerk-recordssearch, phone (518) 487-5100); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at albanycountyny.gov/da, phone (518) 487-5460).
Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
New York is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95 a search, through the New York State Office of Court Administration. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Watervliet
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 Freedom of Information Law the agency must answer within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
- An arrest by the Watervliet police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at watervlietny.gov/access-to-records-requests (page title: Access to Records Requests | City of Watervliet | The Arsenal City), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Albany County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (518) 487-5460, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Albany County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at albanycountyny.gov/clerk-recordssearch, phone (518) 487-5100.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at albanycounty.nextrequest.com (page title: Open Public RecordsNextRequest | Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
The Albany County guide covers every agency in the county: Albany County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Watervliet each year?
Watervliet reported 358 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Watervliet?
Ask the Albany County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at albanycountyny.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Watervliet booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Albany County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Watervliet?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the New York State Office of Court Administration: the Office of Court Administration sells a statewide search of criminal court records by name and date of birth, for $95. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Freedom of Information Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Watervliet?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Watervliet police for its own arrests, the Albany County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Freedom of Information Law the answer is due within 5 business days, at least with an acknowledgment and a date for the full answer; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at albanycounty.nextrequest.com.
Is this the official Watervliet 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.