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 October 2, 2026.
Tacoma, Washington, in Pierce County, has about 228,000 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 Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Pierce County Superior Court. 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: Tacoma public records, Pierce County arrest records, Washington arrest records and Washington inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Tacoma
The FBI lists Tacoma with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Tacoma Police Department. It reported 5,092 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 Pierce County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 2,953 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Tacoma 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.
- Tacoma: 5,092 for 2025, 4,086 for 2024, 3,178 for 2023, 3,217 for 2022, 2,846 for 2021 and 3,543 for 2020.
Tacoma's 5,092 arrests in 2025 were up 25 percent from 4,086 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Tacoma reported 3,184 arrests, against 2,924 in the same months of 2025.
Across Pierce County, the 18 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 15,004 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Tacoma Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Tacoma 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 2023 the jail held about 770 people, down from about 1,110 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,716 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Pierce County Sheriff's Office at linxonline.co.pierce.wa.us/linxweb/Booking/GetJailRoster.cfm (page title: Jail Roster | LINX), 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 Washington State Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.wa.gov/records/incarcerated-data-search/incarcerated-search.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Tacoma
Whether someone was arrested in Tacoma, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the custody page of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; Washington Courts Search Case Records, the Administrative Office of the Courts' free statewide case search, which shows whether charges were filed.
Washington is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: WATCH lets anyone search conviction records by name online, for $12 a search, through the Washington State Patrol. 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 Tacoma
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge for copies at 15 cents a page, and set fees for electronic records.
- An arrest by the Tacoma police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at tacoma.gov/government/departments/public-records-office (page title: Public Records Office | City of Tacoma), phone (253) 231-0240, 3628 South 35th Street Tacoma, WA 98409, Monday-Friday: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Pierce County guide covers every agency in the county: Pierce County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Tacoma each year?
Tacoma reported 5,092 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Tacoma?
Look on the custody page of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office at linxonline.co.pierce.wa.us. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Tacoma booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Pierce County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Tacoma?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Washington State Patrol: WATCH lets anyone search conviction records by name online, for $12. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56).
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Tacoma?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Tacoma police for its own arrests, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56) the answer is due within 5 business days.
Is this the official Tacoma 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.