Boston Busted Mugshots

Boston busted mugshots come from the largest police force in Massachusetts. The Boston Police Department runs out of One Schroeder Plaza in Roxbury Crossing and handles all arrest records for the city. With more than 650,000 people, Boston sees a high volume of bookings each year. Suffolk County courts process the criminal cases that follow those arrests. You can search for Boston busted mugshots through the police department, city records office, or the state court system. Each path gives you a different level of detail on the arrest and the charges that came with it.

Boston Busted Mugshots and Police Records

The Boston Police Department is the main source for busted mugshots in the city. All booking photos get taken at the station after an arrest. The department keeps these on file along with the arrest report, charge details, and case status. You can ask for copies through the Records Division or by filing a public records request. Boston has 11 district stations spread across the city, but all records funnel back to headquarters.

To get Boston busted mugshots, send a request to the public records unit. Email publicrecords@boston.gov for general records or policereport@pd.boston.gov for police reports. You can also go in person to the Public Service Counter on the first floor of One Schroeder Plaza. The city charges $0.05 per page for copies, and the first two hours of search time are free under M.G.L. c. 66 § 10. After two hours, the fee goes up to $25 per hour. The Records Access Officer for Boston is Grace Jung, who you can reach at grace.jung@boston.gov or (617) 635-4037.

The Boston Public Records page shows how to file a request for busted mugshots and other police documents. You need to include the date of the arrest, the name of the person, and the location if you know it. Requests must be specific. The department has 10 business days to respond under state law.

Search Boston Crime Data

Boston runs an open data portal that tracks crime incidents across the city. The Crime Incident Reports dataset goes back to August 2015 and gets updated from the Mark43 records system. This is free to use. It does not show busted mugshots directly, but it gives you dates, locations, and offense types for arrests in Boston. You can filter by district, date range, or crime type.

The Boston Police Department's public records portal provides information on the busted mugshots taken at each of the 11 district stations in the city. Those stations include A-1 in Downtown, B-2 in Roxbury, C-6 in South Boston, C-11 in Dorchester, D-4 in the South End, D-14 in Brighton, E-5 in West Roxbury, E-13 in Jamaica Plain, and E-18 in Hyde Park. Each station books suspects and sends arrest data to the central records system at headquarters. If you know which district handled the arrest, you can call that station for faster results on Boston busted mugshots.

The crime data portal is separate from the CORI system. It tracks incidents rather than criminal histories. For full arrest records and Boston busted mugshots, you still need to go through the police department or the courts.

Boston Court Records and Busted Mugshots

After an arrest in Boston, the case moves to court. Suffolk County handles most criminal cases through Boston Municipal Court and Suffolk Superior Court. The Massachusetts Trial Court Electronic Case Access system lets you search court dockets for free. You need a case number to look up criminal cases online. Name searches only work for civil cases. This is a limit of the system, not a choice by the court.

Boston busted mugshots themselves are held by the police, not the courts. But court records show what happened after the arrest. You can find charge details, hearing dates, and case outcomes. The docket tells you if a case went to trial or if charges got dropped. For sealed records, M.G.L. c. 276 §§ 100A through 100C sets the rules. Misdemeanors can be sealed after five years. Felonies take ten years. Non-conviction records now seal automatically under recent changes to the law.

The court search guide from the state walks you through looking up cases in Boston and across Massachusetts. It covers the steps for using the eCourt system and what information you need to start a search.

Boston CORI and record checks

The state CORI system is another way to look into someone's criminal history in Boston. CORI stands for Criminal Offender Record Information. The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services runs the iCORI portal where you can run checks online. Public access costs $25 and shows felonies from the past two years after release and misdemeanors from the past year. It covers all Massachusetts arrests, not just Boston.

CORI does not include busted mugshots. It only shows court data. The record lists charges, dispositions, and sentences. If you want the actual booking photo from a Boston arrest, you need to request it from the police. Under the 2020 Supreme Judicial Court ruling in Boston Globe Media Partners v. DCJIS, mugshots are public records. Police cannot refuse to release them just because they might also be in the CORI database. That case made it clear that busted mugshots from Boston and other cities are subject to the public records law under M.G.L. c. 4 § 7(26).

You can also request your own CORI for $25 through the individual CORI request page. A self-audit that shows who has checked your record is free once every 90 days. This can be useful if you want to see what comes up when someone searches your name in Boston.

Boston Police Daily Logs

Under M.G.L. c. 41 § 98F, every police department in Massachusetts must keep a daily log of arrests and responses. Boston is no exception. The daily log shows the name of the person arrested, the date, the charge, and the location. These logs are public. You can ask to see them at any district station or at headquarters.

The daily log does not include busted mugshots, but it tells you who got arrested and when. That gives you enough info to then request the booking photo through a public records request. Some departments post their logs online. Check the Boston Police website or call 311 to ask about current availability. The log is a good starting point when you do not have a case number or exact date for a Boston arrest.

Sealing Records in Boston

Not all busted mugshots stay public forever. Massachusetts allows people to seal their criminal records after a set period. Under M.G.L. c. 276 § 100A, you can petition the court where your case was heard. For misdemeanors, the wait is five years from the conviction or release. Felonies require ten years. Once sealed, the record no longer shows up in standard CORI checks or public searches.

If charges were dismissed or you were found not guilty, the record may seal automatically. Recent changes to the law under § 100C made this process automatic for new non-conviction cases starting in March 2024. For older cases, you still need to file a petition. The state sealing page explains the steps. Expungement is harder to get. It only applies in cases of false identification, law enforcement error, identity theft, or offenses that are no longer crimes. If a record is expunged, the busted mugshot and all related files are destroyed permanently.

Boston residents can file sealing petitions at Boston Municipal Court or Suffolk Superior Court depending on where the case was heard. There is no fee to file a petition to seal.

Suffolk County Busted Mugshots

Boston sits in Suffolk County, which also covers Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office runs the county jail and holds booking records for people detained after arrest. For more on countywide arrest records, mugshots, and court resources, visit the Suffolk County busted mugshots page.

View Suffolk County Busted Mugshots

Nearby Cities

Several cities near Boston also have their own police departments and arrest records. These cities share the greater Boston metro area and their cases go through neighboring county courts.

Somerville • Cambridge • Everett • Quincy • Lynn