How to Check Criminal History in Rochester
Choose the Rochester record before choosing the search tool. An RPD report describes what officers received or observed. A booking entry documents county custody. The City Court docket tracks filed charges and appearances. WebCrims displays public current case and calendar data, while a certificate of disposition proves the final outcome. These records can carry different dates and charges because they are created at different stages.
A city-first Rochester criminal history search works in this order:
- Identify RPD as the arresting or reporting agency and gather the incident number, date, location, and names.
- Use RPD Accident/Records if you are the victim or reporting person; otherwise submit a City FOIL request.
- Call the official Rochester arrest-information line or check the court for a current case.
- Follow a detained person into the Monroe County Jail census and a felony prosecution into Supreme or County Court.
- Use DCJS Personal Record Review only for your own fingerprint-linked statewide history.
No result in one source ends the search. A person may have been released before the current jail snapshot, or a completed case may no longer appear in WebCrims.
Rochester Police Records at Exchange Boulevard
RPD Accident/Records operates on the Plaza Level of the Public Safety Building at 185 Exchange Boulevard. The official FAQ lists weekday hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and phone 585-428-7493. A separate official location page lists 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Because the city’s pages conflict, call before travel. Headquarters/Records maintains adult departmental criminal-history folders, processes eligible record checks, receives bail, and prepares the Rochester City Court arraignment docket. Juvenile files are kept separately under controlled access.
The RPD records FAQ lays out the direct and FOIL routes.
Victims and reporting persons may obtain a crime report with identification and a possible $0.25-per-page fee. Other requesters use City FOIL.
RPD Accident/Records
185 Exchange Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14614
585-428-7493
Call to confirm weekday hours
Arrest Information
Rochester Police Department
585-428-5990
Official arrest-information line
The Rochester Police Department
RPD keeps records produced by city policing. A crime report records allegations and investigative observations. An arrest report records the enforcement event and initial charges. A crash report follows a separate route: an involved party may request a copy at the counter or use the city-linked BuyCrash channel, while others use FOIL. A call for service is not itself proof of an arrest, and neither a report nor an arrest proves a conviction.
Ask for a precise item. Include the report or incident number, date and time range, location, involved names, and record type. Body-camera video, photographs, CAD or 911 material, arrest reports, and an incident narrative can require separate descriptions. Active-investigation, privacy, victim, minor, and safety exemptions may result in delay, redaction, or a reasoned denial.
For urgent help use 911. The researched city materials list 311 or 585-428-6720 for nonemergency service. Records staff handle access requests, not emergency response.
Rochester Crime Map Is Not Criminal History
The RPD crime map shows reported Part I incidents from 2011 forward. Its filters cover homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor-vehicle theft. Rape is excluded to protect victim privacy. A map point can provide a report number that helps the Records unit find the underlying file.
The map is updated with processing lag and reflects initial reporting rather than a final case outcome. It is not a name search, warrant search, arrest log, or conviction source.
| Control | Available use |
|---|---|
| Crime type | Filter six published Part I categories |
| Date range | Review mapped incidents since 2011 |
| Layer period | Use 14-day, 30-day, 60-day, or longer ArcGIS layers |
Arrests and Bookings in Rochester
A Rochester arrest can create three files at once. RPD writes the arrest or incident report. Monroe County Sheriff creates a booking and custody entry if the person enters the county jail. Rochester City Court creates the accusatory instrument and docket. Fingerprintable arrest data then flows to DCJS and is later matched with prosecutor and court disposition reports.
City Council Ordinance 2024-148 authorized an agreement for Monroe County and the Sheriff to confine unarraigned RPD prisoners during the July 2024 through June 2026 term. That local arrangement explains why the police report remains with Rochester while custody appears in a county artifact. The agreement set a per-prisoner payment, but that contract figure is not a public search fee.
Call RPD at 585-428-5990 for arrest information. For current custody, use the official county census or call MCSO. For a filed charge or court date, use WebCrims or the correct clerk. An absence from the census may mean release, transfer, no jail booking, a spelling difference, or update delay.
Following Rochester Bookings Into County Records
The county census is a generated PDF rather than an interactive person-search portal. Browser find can locate a name in the current document. Listed categories may include name, JID or MCJ number, sex, race, custody and booking times, sentence classification, custody type, bail, bond, court, expected release, judge, next appearance, arresting-agency code, charge statute, class, and description. The code ROC identifies Rochester as the arresting agency.
Those fields still describe custody and pending information. The census does not display a mugshot, date of birth, physical traits, housing pod, medical flag, or court documents. It must not be treated as a conviction list. A final Rochester case outcome comes from the court of original jurisdiction, not from the booking snapshot.
Read the status first. Initial Rochester charges may be amended, dismissed, or replaced. A booking record is not proof of guilt.
Rochester Municipal Court Records
New York calls the local tribunal Rochester City Court, not a municipal court. Its Criminal Branch is at 150 South Plymouth Avenue, with the clerk available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 585-371-3413. It tries misdemeanors and violations and arraigns felony complaints. An indictment or later felony prosecution proceeds in Supreme or County Court, whose criminal operations are associated with the Hall of Justice and the Monroe County Clerk.
| Court name | Rochester City Court, Criminal Branch |
|---|---|
| Case types heard | City misdemeanors, violations, and felony arraignments |
| Lookup channel | WebCrims for current public cases, plus the clerk by phone or counter |
| Docket contents | Charges, appearances, counsel, events, release status where public, and disposition |
| Certified outcome | Certificate of disposition from the court of original jurisdiction |
WebCrims omits warrants, completed cases, and sealed matters. If the online result is missing, call the court rather than assuming no Rochester criminal record exists.
Rochester Court Records Across Two Buildings
Rochester City Court Criminal Branch at 150 South Plymouth Avenue is distinct from Supreme and County Court operations at the Hall of Justice, 99 Exchange Boulevard. The Monroe County Clerk’s public counter is in Room 105 at 39 West Main Street. The Clerk says only felony convictions are filed there, so it is not a full archive for every Rochester misdemeanor or violation.
A felony complaint may begin in City Court or the county’s Centralized Arraignment Part. After grand-jury action and transfer, the case proceeds at the felony level. For a definitive record, ask the court that entered the result for a certificate of disposition. The broader Monroe County criminal court case page explains the county clerk, WebCrims, and statewide CHRS routes in more depth.
Supreme Court in New York is a trial court. The name does not mean it is the state’s highest appellate court.
Where Rochester Records End Up
RPD keeps the city report. Monroe County Sheriff keeps county booking and custody data. The court keeps filed charges and the disposition. For a fingerprintable event, the arresting agency transmits fingerprints and event data to DCJS, while prosecutors and courts later report the outcome. This layered flow lets the state connect an arrest cycle to its result, but reporting delays can leave a temporary gap.
Record flow: Rochester Police Department › Rochester or Monroe County courts › New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
A recent incident is most likely to be found at RPD. A current court date belongs in WebCrims or with the clerk. A person reviewing an older statewide history should use DCJS fingerprint review, then follow the correction instructions if a certified disposition has not been linked.
Rochester Criminal Records Through City FOIL
People who are not the victim or reporting person generally request RPD crime reports under the city’s FOIL process. The official Rochester FOIL instructions require a name, address, telephone number, a reasonable and specific description, and whether inspection, copies, or both are wanted.
The city’s Law Department records office is at City Hall, Room 400A, 30 Church Street, Rochester, NY 14614. Its phone is 585-428-6986, fax 585-428-6950, and inspection hours are weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ordinary letter-size and legal-size copies cost $0.25 per page. Other media and large-format items use the city’s published fee schedule.
The city also links its direct JustFOIA request portal.
Describe only known fields. The portal’s hidden JavaScript controls were not verified, so no additional required dropdowns should be assumed.
Rochester Criminal Record Statistics in Context
RPD’s 2023 Annual Report counted 12,012 Part I offenses, 235,239 calls for service, 7,180 arrests, and 3,538 crimes cleared. These are agency totals for a named reporting year. They are not counts of unique people, convictions, or current neighborhood risk. One person or event can produce several calls, reports, arrests, or charges, and a clearance does not necessarily mean a conviction.
Rochester’s 2024 population estimate was 207,282. Population and crime totals help describe the scale of city records, but they do not identify anyone’s criminal history. Use a report number, docket, and official identity fields for a specific record search. The live crime map may be newer than the annual report, yet its points are provisional incident data and should not replace finalized annual totals.
Public Access Rules
New York FOIL governs Rochester agency records but does not govern court files in the same way. RPD and the city must review a reasonably described existing record and may redact or withhold material under a specific legal ground. Courts supply public case records under Judiciary Law, court rules, and sealing statutes. DCJS personal criminal histories remain subject-only and are not available through city FOIL.
Key statutes:
New York Freedom of Information Law, Public Officers Law §87 sets agency access and exemptions.
Judiciary Law §255 directs court clerks to search and certify accessible files.
CPL 160.50 generally seals records after a favorable termination.
A written city FOIL denial may be appealed to Corporation Counsel within 30 days. Include the request, denial, and reasons for appeal. The city may grant access, partly grant it, explain a denial, extend its response time, allow inspection, refer the request to another custodian, or state that no responsive record was found.