When someone is arrested they are detained by the arresting officer. They are typically handcuffed, read their rights, and brought to the police station for booking. This process of the arrest is typically public meaning that when this happens and it is documented these records become searchable to the public.
The question that is asked a lot is can you check out another person’s criminal background? specifically there arrest records? Yes! arrest records are public in nature and you can performa public arrest record search on almost anyone in the United States.
Public arrest records will show the person searching for these types of records the following type of information:
Where the arrest happened
- Where the arrest took place
- Time of arrest
- Charges
- Arresting officer
- Arresting agency
- Mugshot photos
- Jail information
- Bail info
- Prison location
- Parole data
- And more…
Can anyone search and view arrest records in the United States?
Yes. Anyone that has access to the internet can unlock and lookup arrest records across the United States. Unless the record is sealed from view by the courts which means that the general public cannot view the record. If the record is not sealed then that piece of a public arrest record can be found and viewed.
Typically you could find that these types of records are sealed from view:
- Birth records: Example would be adoption
- Criminal data from Juveniles
- Juvenile cases, in general, are usually sealed from public
- Trade secrets
- State secrets
- Witness protection
Can anyone view warrants in the United States?
Yes! Warrants are almost always public in nature because of law enforcement wanting the public to help with pointing out where a fugitive may be and because it helps the public stay aware of someone dangerous on the run within there area or across the nation. There are many types of warrants that can be brought onto a person by law enforcement. Each one has a specific use and instructs police to act a certain way. Some warrants are more aggressive in nature than others.
If you have a warrant against you or you know someone that does it is extremely important to get this warrant taken care of. Look for professional help with getting the warrant removed by working with the courts. Warrants do not expire so hiding will not make the warrant disappear. If you have a warrant out for you and you do not take care of it you will not be able to renew your license, leave the country, or get stopped by law enforcement for any reason. A simple traffic stop will lead you to jail.
How can you find public arrest records?
Finding any type of public record is much easier now than it was years ago. This is because most public record data is stored online and accessed via the internet. When an arrest happens from the time the person is brought into the police station for booking to the court hearings are documented and stored for use at a later date. These stamps in time are records, public records. in the case of an arrest, they are public arrest records.
To view them you can either go to the courthouse and head over to the clerk of courts or you can access them online via the courthouse online website or use a search service.
The easiest way to utilize a search service to find these types of records. All that is needed is the first an last name to start a search and system does the rest. Data is searched through federal, state, and county resources so you can public records in the following area when available:
- Arrest records
- Criminal data
- Sex offender information
- Warrants
- Assets
- Full names
- Email address
- Phone numbers
- Address information
- Related persons
- And more…
Can anyone find sex offender information online?
Yes, you can. in-fact it is always free and available in every state through the national sex offender website. However, keep in mind that each state has its own set of laws that may make keep a sex offender off of the list due to the states own laws.
With that said you should still search for sex offenders in your area. It is important to try and keep up-to-date with who is living around you especially someone with a record for sex crimes.
What is violent and property crime rates in the United States?
The below data is from the Crime Data Explorer and are FBI estimates fro 2007 to 2017 in the United States. The data is received from 16,513 out of 18,636 law enforcement agencies in the United States. To read more about the service and what the CDE does click here.
