The booking sheet — the fingerprint of an arrest
Every arrest in the United States generates a booking record at the moment the arrestee is processed into custody. The booking sheet typically captures the subject's full legal name, date of birth, last known address, height/weight, identifying marks, the arresting agency, the booking number, time of arrest, charges filed at intake, and a mugshot. Tulsa Police describes its booking record (Tulsa PD Open Records) as the document a requestor must specifically name when filing an open-records request — the "Arrest and Booking Data Sheet." Booking sheets are public in most states; mugshots increasingly are not.
Probable cause affidavit — the legal justification
The probable-cause affidavit is the sworn statement an officer files explaining why the arrest was lawful. Cornell's Legal Information Institute defines probable cause as the standard that exists when "the facts and circumstances within an officer's knowledge would lead a reasonable person to believe that a crime has been committed" (Cornell LII — Probable Cause). Affidavits are filed with the booking magistrate within 48 hours of arrest in most jurisdictions and form the factual basis for the charges that follow.
Incident / offense report — the narrative
The incident report is the responding officer's narrative of what happened. It includes the date, time, and location, witness statements, victim accounts, evidence collected, and the officer's observations. San Jose PD (SJPD Records) makes incident reports available through its Records Unit. Victim names are commonly redacted; witness identities are sometimes withheld for safety.
Charge sheet and disposition tracking
Once the case moves to the District Attorney's office, a charge sheet is generated listing the specific statutory offenses being filed. From this point forward, the case is tracked in the court system rather than the police records system. FindLaw's overview of police booking procedure explains how this hand-off shapes whether you find a record in a jail roster (pre-arraignment) or a court docket (post-arraignment).
What's typically redacted
Victim identities, social-security numbers, juvenile information, undercover-officer details, ongoing-investigation specifics, and confidential informant references are nearly always redacted before public release. Mugshots are now restricted by statute in California, Utah, New York, Texas, and a growing list of other states — particularly when no conviction has occurred.