The series is based on a manga by Kōsuke Fujishima serialized in Kodansha's seinen magazines Morning Party Zōkan and Morning from 1986 to 1992, and the final frame of the last Japanese volume teases a 'You're Under Arrest 2' that has never actually been serialized.

The English Dark Horse Comics release of the manga only included selected episodes from volumes 6 and 7, reportedly at Fujishima's own request, which caused continuity confusion for some fans.

For the 1994 OVA adaptation, Fujishima's evolving art style had to be unified for animation purposes, so the OVA's look was standardized to match the style of the original manga's volumes 4 and 5.

In February 1995, between FILE.2 and FILE.3 of the OVA, a special fan-service tie-in video called 'Karaoke Shichauzo' was hastily produced featuring live-action music videos with the voice actresses Sakiko Tamagawa and Akiko Hiramatsu dressed as policewomen, created to compensate for release delays.

The first TV series (1996-97) was originally planned for only half a year, but due to its popularity the broadcast was extended to a full year, which was announced in Afternoon magazine and other outlets.

In the second TV season (SECOND SEASON), the disaster relief robot T-5 featured in episodes 11 and 12 was based on an actual concept robot developed by the company Tmsuk, which had demonstrated a prototype at the 'ROBODEX 2000' exhibition in Pacifico Yokohama.

The fictional Bokuto Bridge that appears in the second TV season is depicted at the same real-world coordinates as the actual Komagata Bridge in Tokyo.

For the 1999 theatrical film, the production team conducted meticulous on-location research in real Tokyo landmarks like Kachidoki Bridge and the Tokyo Heliport, even confirming that the patrol boat 'Yashima' could actually pass under Kachidoki Bridge.

Because a scene depicting a patrol boat firing a warning shot to stop a decoy ship was considered unrealistic by the Japan Coast Guard, which had cooperated on research for the film, its cooperation credit was removed from the end credits, though dialogue was altered as a gesture of thanks.

During ADR recording for the theatrical film, voice actress Sakiko Tamagawa (playing Natsumi Tsujimoto) was directed to let out a battle cry and pushed herself to give it her all; she overexerted her diaphragm, which spasmed, causing her to collapse against co-star Akiko Hiramatsu and halting that day's recording session.

The core voice cast for the two lead characters remained the same across the OVA, TV series, and theatrical film.