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Step 1
First, visit the website of New York DOCS (Dept of Correctional Services) at docs.state.ny.us, and use the inmate lookup feature. With a first and last name, you can pull up a list of one or several inmates with that name. If you click on the inmate ID number, you can see a list of details, including sentencing, crime, age, race, etc. This is only for inmates in the state penitentiary system.
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Step 2
The inmate name is the one used on the court documents, which may be different from the name you know. So keep in mind that the prisoner you are looking up may still be in the state prison system, but under a different alias. In this case you should try searching with the same first name, but different initials for the last name.
Most criminals who use aliases change their last name, or just the spellings of their names. -
Step 3
If the inmate you are searching for is in a federal prison or detention center, you should visit the US Bureau of Prisons website, bop.gov. There you will find an inmate locator tool where you can search either by first and last name, or number. You cannot make partial name searches, so this will be difficult if you don't know the real name.
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Step 4
Try doing a search of New York Criminal records. In New york, a person can only receive a report of his or her own criminal record from the New York courts, so you should use the services of a private company
