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

Erie County, New York, has about 951,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Erie County Sheriff's Office, 20 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 District Attorney files charges, a case in the Erie County Supreme and County Courts. 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: Erie County public records, New York arrest records, New York inmate search and New York criminal records.

Who Makes Arrests in Erie County

The Erie County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Erie County. It reported 900 arrests for 2025.

The FBI lists 11 cities in Erie County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:

  • Buffalo, 276,617 residents: 6,255 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Lackawanna, 19,629 residents: 835 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Tonawanda (town), 14,984 residents: 892 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Tonawanda, 14,984 residents: 266 arrests reported for 2024.
  • Kenmore, 14,936 residents: 218 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Lancaster, 10,094 residents: 271 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Hamburg (village), 9,835 residents: 99 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Hamburg (town), 9,835 residents: 918 arrests reported for 2025.
  • East Aurora, 5,986 residents: 114 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Orchard Park, 3,046 residents: 660 arrests reported for 2025.
  • Blasdell, 2,557 residents: 21 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 Gowanda Village Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Erie County, so its arrests are not broken out for Erie County here.

The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Erie County: the Buffalo State College State University of New York Police and the Buffalo State University of New York Police (campus police); the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (other).

How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Erie 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.

  • Buffalo: 6,255 for 2025, 6,966 for 2024, 5,914 for 2023, 4,513 for 2022, 3,895 for 2021 and 6,166 for 2020.
  • Cheektowaga Town: 3,070 for 2025, 2,751 for 2024, 2,995 for 2023, 4,612 for 2022, 3,572 for 2020 and 5,565 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Amherst Town: 1,582 for 2025, 1,753 for 2024, 2,455 for 2023, 2,214 for 2022, 1,689 for 2020 and 2,759 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Hamburg (town): 918 for 2025, 918 for 2024, 872 for 2023, 1,137 for 2022, 1,523 for 2020 and 1,645 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Erie County Sheriff's Office: 900 for 2025, 990 for 2024, 789 for 2023, 1,526 for 2022, 1,073 for 2020 and 2,304 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Tonawanda (town): 892 for 2025, 745 for 2024, 820 for 2023, 749 for 2022 and 1,091 for 2019; 2020 and 2021 are missing months.
  • Lackawanna: 835 for 2025, 1,091 for 2024, 868 for 2023, 959 for 2022, 716 for 2020 and 1,282 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Orchard Park: 660 for 2025, 491 for 2024, 473 for 2023, 420 for 2022, 632 for 2020 and 762 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • West Seneca Town: 646 for 2025, 543 for 2024, 456 for 2023, 583 for 2022, 450 for 2020 and 736 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Evans Town: 271 for 2025, 408 for 2024, 264 for 2023, 291 for 2022, 292 for 2020 and 480 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Lancaster: 271 for 2025, 349 for 2024, 691 for 2023, 719 for 2022, 753 for 2020 and 1,002 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
  • Depew Village: 225 for 2025, 198 for 2024, 217 for 2023, 422 for 2022, 347 for 2020 and 427 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.

Together, the 19 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 17,041 arrests that year. The 18 of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 17,037 in 2025 against 17,746 in 2024, down 4 percent.

Brant Town and Tonawanda reported only part of 2025 (3 months and 11 months) and are left out of the totals.

Booking: Where People Arrested in Erie County Are Held

The county jail is where a person arrested in Erie County 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.

So far in 2026 the jail has held about 760 people on an average day, down from about 870 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,385 beds, and it ran at 56 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 Erie County Sheriff's Office at www4.erie.gov/sheriff (page title: Erie County Sheriff's Office), phone 716-858-7755, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.

A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, whose inmate locator is at nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov.

How to Find Out About an Arrest in Erie County

Whether someone was arrested in Erie County, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Erie County Supreme and County Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at www4.erie.gov/clerk/court-recordsfiling); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at www4.erie.gov/da).

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 Erie 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 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 Erie County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 716-858-7755.
  • An arrest in Buffalo, Lackawanna, Tonawanda (town), Tonawanda, Kenmore, Lancaster 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 the Buffalo State College State University of New York Police, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority or the Buffalo State University of New York Police: the records office of the agency involved.
  • A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
  • The court file of a case that was filed: the Erie County Supreme and County Courts, through the court records page at www4.erie.gov/clerk/court-recordsfiling.
  • Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at www4.erie.gov (page title: General Rules for Requesting Information | Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns).
  • Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based Record Review through the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Cities in Erie County: Who Reports the Arrests

The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for 11 of the 18 cities in Erie County: Buffalo, Lackawanna, Tonawanda (town), Tonawanda, Kenmore, Lancaster, Hamburg (village), Hamburg (town), East Aurora, Orchard Park and Blasdell. Depew, Williamsville, Springville, Sloan, Akron, Alden, Angola, North Collins and Farnham have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list. The FBI's list also carries the Akron Village Police Department, the Amherst Town Police Department, the Brant Town Police Department and six more as city agencies in Erie County; Akron Village, Amherst Town, Brant Town and six more 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 Erie County Supreme and County Courts.

SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Erie 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 Erie County each year?

Buffalo reported 6,255 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the 19 agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 17,041 between them.

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

Ask the Erie County Sheriff's Office at 716-858-7755; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at www4.erie.gov/sheriff.

Where are people arrested in Erie County booked?

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

Are arrest records public in Erie County?

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 Erie County?

From the agency that made the arrest: the Erie County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 www4.erie.gov.

Is this the official Erie 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.