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.
West Chester, Pennsylvania, in Chester County, has about 23,000 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 Chester County Court of Common Pleas. 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: West Chester public records, Chester County arrest records, Pennsylvania arrest records and Pennsylvania inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in West Chester
The FBI lists West Chester with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as West Chester Police Department. It reported 1,120 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 Chester County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 226 arrests for 2020.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Chester County: the State Park Rangers at White Clay, the State Park Rangers at Marsh Creek, Forest Rangers's William Penn State Forest District 17, the Bureau of Forestry in Chester County and one more (state agency); Pennsylvania State University at Great Valley, West Chester University and Lincoln University (campus police); the Chester County State Police (state police); County Detective in Chester County (other).
How Many Arrests West Chester 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.
- West Chester: 1,120 for 2025, 1,175 for 2024 and 716 for 2020; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
West Chester's 1,120 arrests in 2025 were down 4.7 percent from 1,175 in 2024.
Across Chester County, the 34 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,241 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in West Chester Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in West Chester 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 2024 the jail held about 710 people, down from about 840 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,023 beds, and it ran at 67 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 Chester County Sheriff's Office at chesco.org/167/Sheriff (page title: Chester County Sheriff | Chester County, PA), phone 610-344-6850, 201 W Market Street, Suite 1201 West Chester, PA 19382, Fridays, 8:30am to 3:30pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 28, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections lists its inmates at inmatelocator.cor.pa.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in West Chester
An arrest in West Chester can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: UJS Web Portal, the Pennsylvania courts' free statewide docket search, which shows whether charges were filed; the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at chesco.org/5480/District-Attorney-Chris-de-Barrena-Sarob, phone 610-344-6866).
Pennsylvania is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: PATCH lets anyone request a criminal record check by name online, for $22 a search, through the Pennsylvania State Police. 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 West Chester
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Right-to-Know Law the agency must answer within 5 business days, with a 30-day extension, and it may charge copying at 25 cents a page.
- An arrest by the West Chester police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at west-chester.com/424/Records---General-Information (page title: Records | General Information | West Chester Borough, PA), phone 610-436-1320, Monday through Friday 7 am to 3 pm, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Chester County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 610-344-6850.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 610-344-6866, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at chesco.justfoia.com/publicportal (page title: Chester County, PA Public Portal | JustFOIA).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Chester County guide covers every agency in the county: Chester County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in West Chester each year?
West Chester reported 1,120 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in West Chester?
Ask the Chester County Sheriff's Office at 610-344-6850; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at chesco.org/167/Sheriff.
Where are people arrested in West Chester booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Chester County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in West Chester?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Pennsylvania State Police: PATCH lets anyone request a criminal record check by name online, for $22. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Right-to-Know Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in West Chester?
From the agency that made the arrest: the West Chester police for its own arrests, the Chester County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Right-to-Know Law the answer is due within 5 business days, with a 30-day extension; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at chesco.justfoia.com/publicportal.
Is this the official West Chester 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.