Salem
City in Marion County, Polk County, 178,865 people.
Police
Sheriffs and county police in its counties: Marion County Sheriff's Office, Polk County Sheriff's Office.
A department is the place's own when its name is the place's and its FBI population fits the place's people (decision city-or-town-is-its-police-department). Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29.
Where it sits
- Counties
- Marion CountyPolk County
- People
- 178,865
- Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024
How a case moves here
Salem follows Oregon law on arrests, release, and courts; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.
- Who decides release first
Before arraignment, the jail releases people under a standing order written by the presiding judge of each judicial district, or a release assistance officer appointed by that judge decides. At arraignment, a judge makes the release decision. The standing order sets recognizance and conditional release, not dollar amounts.
ORS 135.233, 135.235, 135.240, 135.245Oregon Chief Justice Order 24-014, Release Guidelines (May 22, 2024)- Time to see a judge
A person held in custody must be arraigned within the first 36 hours of custody, not counting weekends and holidays, unless there is good cause or the defendant asks for more time.
ORS 135.010- Money bail
Senate Bill 48, in effect since July 1, 2022, ended security (money bail) schedules that applied right after arrest. A judge may still require security at arraignment after finding that release on recognizance or conditions is unwarranted.
Oregon Chief Justice Order 24-014, Release Guidelines (May 22, 2024)ORS 135.233
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Which judicial districts use a risk tool, and which one, was not checked.
Crime
Offenses reported by Salem Police Department, Salem's own department. The county sheriff and state police may answer calls here too; their offenses are on their own pages.
The crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Oregon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crime | 843 | 901 | 834 | 972 | 770 | 482 | 338 |
| Murder | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 4.1 | 4.2 |
| Rape | 43 | 64 | 50 | 75 | 65 | 33 | 43 |
| Robbery | 168 | 176 | 176 | 164 | 146 | 93 | 61 |
| Aggravated assault | 623 | 654 | 600 | 724 | 555 | 352 | 230 |
| Property crime | 6,932 | 7,069 | 6,198 | 5,417 | 4,511 | 3,364 | 2,567 |
| Burglary | 706 | 754 | 676 | 756 | 563 | 386 | 326 |
| Larceny | 5,156 | 5,097 | 4,603 | 3,940 | 3,443 | 2,483 | 1,851 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 1,070 | 1,218 | 919 | 721 | 505 | 495 | 390 |
| Arson | 135 | 146 | 120 | 110 | 74 | 65 | 31 |
Outside the crime index
| Offense | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Per 100k | Oregon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All offenses outside the crime index | 7,300 | 8,233 | 8,711 | 6,254 | 4,810 | 3,943 | 2,390 |
| Simple assault and intimidation | 1,350 | 1,368 | 1,383 | 1,683 | 1,663 | 832 | 685 |
| Vandalism | 4,017 | 4,975 | 5,545 | 3,030 | 1,491 | 2,128 | 741 |
| Fraud | 827 | 814 | 796 | 535 | 513 | 389 | 381 |
| Drug abuse violations | 199 | 124 | 103 | 190 | 348 | 108 | 233 |
| Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc. | 423 | 493 | 446 | 474 | 481 | 259 | 140 |
| Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing | 69 | 63 | 51 | 28 | 31 | 27 | 31 |
| Forgery and counterfeiting | 205 | 224 | 223 | 190 | 121 | 108 | 68 |
| Embezzlement | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 6.1 |
| Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution) | 83 | 71 | 65 | 31 | 40 | 32 | 49 |
| Prostitution and commercialized vice | 27 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 5.7 | 7.9 |
| Other Group A offenses | 94 | 92 | 85 | 89 | 113 | 53 | 47 |
| Manslaughter by negligence (not in the total) | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 1.2 | |
| Human trafficking (not in the total) | 3 | Too few for a rate: the count is under 20. | 1 |
Offenses Salem Police Department reported to the FBI in incident detail (NIBRS), each year, the second table by the arrest class each offense falls in. Per 100k: offenses per 100,000 people the department polices, 2021 to 2025 added together, beside Oregon's rate over the same years. – means too few for a rate: the count is under 20.
Source: FBI NIBRS national master files, each agency's offenses and the FBI's population for it. Oregon: the crime index: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CrimeDB's chosen value per year (the state page's figures); outside it: FBI NIBRS, agencies that sent incident detail.