Should Police Stop Releasing Mugshots to the Public?

Law enforcement agencies routinely post photos of people booked into the local lockup, potentially wreaking permanent havoc on their lives before they’ve been convicted, prompting many cities and states to question why police release them and whether they should be allowed to at all, reports NBC News.

The Justice Department has repeatedly refused to release mugshots, arguing to a federal appeals court that there’s no public safety interest in releasing pictures that are a “lasting image of what can be one of the most difficult episodes in an individual’s life.”

The San Francisco Police Department and police in Newark, New Jersey only publish arrest photos when they serve a clear law enforcement purpose — like finding a suspect or a missing person. New York, California, and Utah have banned the publication of mugshots in varying degrees as well.

Some in law enforcement say that posting mugshots can spur other victims to come forward, and others claim — without evidence — that the threat of a public mugshot can help deter crime. Other critics point out that sometimes mugshots are the only evidence of police brutality carried out during an arrest.

But some people who’ve had their mugshots posted publicly say the practice deters rebuilding a life, often depriving them of job or living opportunities, undermining basic protections that our justice system is supposed to have, and furthering racial stereotypes and stigma.

Widespread publication of police booking photos in the news and on social media creates an illusory correlation for viewers that fosters racial bias and vastly overstates the propensity of Black and brown men to engage in criminal behavior,” said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott.

See also: When Your Criminal Case is Dropped, but Your Mugshot Lives Forever, The Crime Report, Nov. 3, 2021