Cambridge Booking Reports

Cambridge booking reports are created by the Cambridge Police Department each time an arrest takes place within city limits. The city sits in Middlesex County right across the Charles River from Boston, with a population of about 118,000. Cambridge is home to Harvard and MIT, which gives the city a unique mix of residents and visitors. The police department handles all local arrests and keeps booking records at its headquarters on Sixth Street. You can search for Cambridge booking data through the police records division, the Middlesex County court system, or statewide tools like iCORI and MassCourts that pull from criminal justice databases across Massachusetts.

Cambridge Police Department Booking Reports

The Cambridge Police Department generates booking reports for every arrest in the city. The department is at 125 Sixth Street in the Kendall Square area. Its Records Division handles all public records requests for booking data, incident reports, and other police files. When you need a copy of a Cambridge booking report, this is where you start.

To get a booking report from Cambridge PD, contact the Records Division by phone at 617-349-3300. You can ask about what they have on file and how to submit a formal request. Under M.G.L. c. 66, § 10, the department must respond within 10 business days. The first two hours of staff time are free since Cambridge has a population over 20,000. After that, fees cap at $25 per hour. Paper copies run $0.05 per page. Most straightforward requests for Cambridge booking reports cost very little.

The Cambridge Police website also posts press releases about major arrests and incidents in the city. These can be a good starting point if you are looking for recent booking reports but lack details like the exact date or the person's full name. Press releases often include enough info to file a targeted records request with the Cambridge PD.

Note: Cambridge Police press releases are not the same as booking reports, but they can help you identify the details you need to request a specific report.

Search Cambridge Booking Reports Online

Massachusetts runs two main systems that can pull booking data tied to Cambridge arrests. The first is iCORI. The second is MassCourts. Both are free to search in different ways, and both cover every jurisdiction in the state including Cambridge.

The iCORI system is managed by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. It lets you pull criminal history records that include booking data. A personal CORI check costs $25. An open access check runs $50 and requires written consent from the subject. You register with a government-issued ID and submit your request online. Processing takes up to 10 business days. The system draws from booking records across the state under M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 167-178B, so a single search can return results from Cambridge and any other city where the person was booked.

The MassCourts portal shows what happened after a Cambridge booking. You can search by name or case number without signing up. The system covers Cambridge District Court and Middlesex Superior Court, both of which handle cases from Cambridge arrests. Docket entries show charges, hearing dates, bail info, and outcomes. This is the court side of the story that picks up where the police booking report leaves off.

Cambridge Booking Data and DCJIS

The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services sits at the center of criminal records in Massachusetts. It holds the statewide database that ties together booking reports from Cambridge and every other police department in the state. When Cambridge PD books someone, that data feeds into the DCJIS system. This is how a CORI check can show arrests from multiple cities in a single report.

DCJIS also sets the rules for who can see what. Under 803 CMR 2.00, there are tiered access levels. Law enforcement gets the most access. Certain agencies and organizations qualify for different levels. The general public can use iCORI for personal and open access checks, but those come back with less detail than what a police department would see. If you are looking for a Cambridge booking report through the state system, the level of detail you get depends on your access tier and the type of request you make.

The DCJIS address is 200 Arlington Street, Suite 2200, Chelsea, MA 02150. You can reach them at (617) 660-4600 or by email at icori.info@state.ma.us. They handle questions about the iCORI system, CORI access levels, and how booking data from Cambridge and other cities gets processed at the state level.

Cambridge Booking Reports and Court Records

Court records tied to Cambridge bookings go through two main courts. The Cambridge District Court handles arraignments, misdemeanors, and lower-level felonies. The Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge or Woburn handles more serious cases. Both courts are part of the Massachusetts Trial Court system and their records show up in MassCourts.

A court record is different from a booking report. The booking report is created by police at the time of arrest. The court record starts at arraignment and tracks everything that happens in the case from that point on. Charges can change between booking and court. Sometimes charges get added. Sometimes they get dropped. If you want the full story behind a Cambridge arrest, you need both the booking report from Cambridge PD and the court file from the relevant court.

Under M.G.L. c. 41, § 98F, the Cambridge Police Department keeps a daily log of all arrests, complaints, and responses to calls. This log is a public record that the department must provide free of charge. It is a fast way to find basic booking data without filing a formal records request. The log shows the date, time, type of incident, and any arrest that resulted from it. If you know roughly when the arrest happened in Cambridge, the daily log can point you to the right booking report.

Note: Court records may show different charges than the original Cambridge booking report if the prosecutor added or dropped charges after the arrest.

Middlesex County Jail and Cambridge Arrests

People arrested in Cambridge who are held past their initial booking may be transferred to the Middlesex County Jail in Billerica. The Middlesex Sheriff's Office runs this facility. It creates its own intake records for everyone who comes through, which adds another layer of documentation on top of the Cambridge PD booking report.

There is no online inmate search for the Middlesex County Jail. You have to call the facility at (978) 667-1711 or visit in person to check on a person's custody status. The jail is at 269 Treble Cove Road in Billerica. This lack of an online tool means more effort on your end, but the staff can confirm whether someone from a Cambridge arrest is or was in their custody. The jail records show intake date, release date, and custody status, which the police booking report does not always cover.

The Middlesex Sheriff's Office also falls under the state's public records law. You can file a formal request for jail booking records under M.G.L. c. 66, § 10. The same 10-business-day window applies. Keep in mind that jail records and police booking reports are held by different agencies. A Cambridge arrest may generate records at both the police department and the county jail, and you need to ask each one separately.

Cambridge Booking Reports and Public Records Law

Massachusetts public records law gives you broad access to booking reports in Cambridge. Under M.G.L. c. 4, § 7(26), government records are defined as public unless an exemption applies. That definition covers booking reports. The law lists 26 specific exemptions, and a few of them can limit what you get back from a Cambridge records request.

The main exemptions that touch booking reports are the law enforcement investigatory exemption and the privacy exemption. Active investigation materials may be held back. Juvenile records are protected. Sealed records under M.G.L. c. 276, §§ 100A-100U will not show up at all. If your request for a Cambridge booking report gets denied in whole or in part, you have the right to appeal. The Secretary of the Commonwealth's Public Records Division handles appeals through its Supervisor of Records office.

The Open Government Guide for Massachusetts is a useful resource that explains what police departments must share and what they can hold back. It covers booking reports, arrest logs, and other law enforcement records in detail. If you are having trouble getting a Cambridge booking report through normal channels, this guide can help you understand your rights and options under state law.

Sealing Cambridge Booking Records

A person with a Cambridge booking report on file can petition to have it sealed after enough time passes. The waiting period under M.G.L. c. 276, § 100A is three years for misdemeanors and seven years for felonies. These periods start from the date the case was resolved, not from the arrest date. Once a record is sealed, the Cambridge booking report linked to that case will not appear in standard CORI checks or public records searches.

Expungement is a separate process that goes beyond sealing. It removes the record from state systems entirely. Very few cases qualify. The law sets strict limits on which charges can be expunged. If granted, the Cambridge booking report is wiped from every database. In practice, sealing is far more common than expungement. Either way, law enforcement agencies still have access to sealed records even when the public does not.

Note: A sealed Cambridge booking report can still be seen by certain government agencies and law enforcement, even though it is removed from public search results.

Middlesex County Booking Reports

Cambridge is in Middlesex County, the most populous county in Massachusetts. About 1.6 million people live across its cities and towns. The Middlesex County Sheriff's Office and the county court system handle a large share of criminal cases that start with local police bookings. For more on county-level resources, court contacts, and how to search for records across Middlesex County, see the full county page.

View Middlesex County Booking Reports

Nearby Cities

These cities are close to Cambridge and each has its own police department that creates booking reports. The city where the arrest took place determines which department holds the booking report.