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The recent break ins thread got me surfing local mug shot photos, and thinking about an incident that happened a couple of years ago to a friend of mine. She got charged with some trespassing charge because of an issue that was beyond her control. She and roommate were renting a place (roommate was actual lease holder), and apparently the landlord was going through a divorce (for whatever reason, he and his wife who was co-owner of the property were not on the same page in terms of communication). The wife apparently sent police to the home in question one day, saying nobody should be occupying it, two people were taken in on something like third degree trespassing (I think that was it -- details are from memory and may not be 100% accurate).
Long story short, it was later deemed no crime was committed, charges dropped, apologies issued, etc.
But the mug shot lingered for a long time in Google searches.
Anyone see a problem here? Potential employers, creditors etc Google your name these days, and a public mug shot doesn't look that good on a resume, especially when it inaccurately implies you committed a crime, but has no updated information regarding charges dropped, etc.
Although I do understand the perception of the "deterrent effect" that the embarrassment of public mug shots is supposed to bring, it seems to me the real criminals are listed sometimes 3-4 times in a 2 week time period, smirking sometimes, and to me they don't look embarrassed or deterred by this.
As far as the innocent that are wrongly charged with crimes, their careers could be ruined.
In the spirit of "innocent until proven guilty", isn't posting public mug shots of folks charged but not yet convicted a significant crime against our justice system in itself?
I like the idea of outing the real criminals, but it seems to me the problem of innocent casualties more than outweighs the benefits of letting the public see what a gangster looks like.
There was a story on this on 20/20 a few months back, about how the mug shots are nearly impossible to get off the web once posted.
On our local mugshot site springfieldmugshots.com you can request removal.
I think anyone affected by the mugshots should get help wherever they can.
They, of course have a stronger interest in effecting change than those who are unaffected, but in general I think as a society we wait too long -- until it affects us directly -- to do anything about the problem. In other words, "they haven't ruined my career yet so I'm not worried about it". I'm guilty of that track of thinking too, I wouldn't have even realized what a problem it was until I knew someone affected by it. It was a wake up call for me, yet the more I think about it, the more I start feeling like I have an obligation to proactively do things to create awareness of this.
I see it as a problem similar to identify theft. Awareness of ID theft is increasing as more innocent people have their lives ruined by it, but 10 years ago it was hard for most identity theft victims to even get someone to listen to them. And even still, most folks do not take enough precautions against it (I've seen some really careless usage of social networking sites). By the time they are turned into one of the affected, it's too late, and it becomes an expensive problem to fix their credit rating and dig out of the loans taken out in their name. Why not be a little more proactive (as a society I mean)?
If only innocent victims of the mug shot publications are vocal, it looks as if they are only serving their own interest in isolated cases, and nobody listens to them. The very fact that they got their mug shot published in the first place draws immediate suspicion to their credibility. Did you read the article posted previously in this thread? Some of these websites want $900 and for the victim to prove charges were dropped. "Innocent until proven guilty" seems to not apply here. Why is the burden of proof placed on the innocent, even part of the time? That's a problem. It's a new problem brought about by new technology and a relatively immature societal understanding of the long-term impacts.
I would have chosen another thread title if I had it to do over again, because very clearly it's not a Wake County specific problem - lots of counties publish mug shots of recently arrested, but not convicted, citizens. I don't really know where to get started along the pipe dream of changing the situation. All I really know how to do is discuss it, create awareness of it. Hope the news media continues to raise it as an issue, and wait for laws to catch up? Is there a better way?
On our local mugshot site springfieldmugshots.com you can request removal.
20yrsinBranson
But should an innocent person have to? The image sometimes gets magically propagated to a bunch of other sites. More than one report exists of requesting removal from one site (often requiring a "processing fee") only to see it pop up on another site. How do we know which of these sites are in cahoots together?
But should an innocent person have to? The image sometimes gets magically propagated to a bunch of other sites. More than one report exists of requesting removal from one site (often requiring a "processing fee") only to see it pop up on another site. How do we know which of these sites are in cahoots together?
A situation like the one you described in your post happens very, very rarely. 90 percent of the people who are on mugshots DESERVE to be on mugshots.
On our site it states, very clearly, that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
Who really wants to work for any ###### that will google your name? What are they doing wasting money with their background check or is google their background check?
This sounds roughly similar to the situation with credit bureaus a few years ago, where people's credit ratings were ruined by erroneous credit files on people with similar names, etc. Not sure where that issue went or if it is still a problem.
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it's still a problem...happened to me this summer and I'm due to check again. It affected my car loan interest rate (I didn't find out about it until I was sitting in front of the finance guy).
Fortunately, most reputable employers will NOT rely on a google search; many company's have policies against it. They might look at your social media profile, since that is in direct control of the applicant, but they don't rely on a google search to make hiring decisions. How many "Bill Johnson" live in Raleigh? I bet a few have even been arrested. They do a real background check. Background checks show a number of things, but they don't show mughsots, just convictions and other pertinent information.
A potential spouse might, but if he or she is worth anything, they understand the difference between "accused" and "convicted." Anyone can be arrested for a number of reasons, it does not equate to guilt.
A situation like the one you described in your post happens very, very rarely. 90 percent of the people who are on mugshots DESERVE to be on mugshots.
On our site it states, very clearly, that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
20yrsinBranson
I don't doubt that most of the mugs deserve to be there. The problem is that it's not bothering them to be there. You'll see the same ones getting busted for same or similar crimes. They don't care, they are not deterred or embarrassed by being there, it's their lifestyle.
However, even if there's only one or two innocent people per month that get their careers wrecked because of a mug shot on a charge that later gets dismissed, it's one or two too many. And they are embarrassed and wrongly impacted by it.
The mug shots serve no real purpose other than lookee-loo curiosity for the nosy. Show their photos in the offender database post-conviction if you want but embarrassing them before it's been determined if they are guilty is wrong.
Stating that they are innocent until proven guilty on one website doesn't prevent the scammer sites from picking up the photo and wrecking a person's career, shaking them down for large sums of money to get it removed. That's a bigger crime that what 90 percent of the mug shot folks are in for IMO.
Who really wants to work for any ###### that will google your name? What are they doing wasting money with their background check or is google their background check?
Probably nobody wants to work for them. Most people don't want to work at all though, would rather just win the lotto, and not everyone gets to pick and choose among employers. A lot of people just want to make a living, some struggle more than others.
Fortunately, most reputable employers will NOT rely on a google search; many company's have policies against it. They might look at your social media profile, since that is in direct control of the applicant, but they don't rely on a google search to make hiring decisions. How many "Bill Johnson" live in Raleigh? I bet a few have even been arrested. They do a real background check. Background checks show a number of things, but they don't show mughsots, just convictions and other pertinent information.
A potential spouse might, but if he or she is worth anything, they understand the difference between "accused" and "convicted." Anyone can be arrested for a number of reasons, it does not equate to guilt.
Where I work, whether or not someone gets hired is largely based on the collective vote of a team. HR has their guidelines of course, but ultimately whether someone makes it or not is a decision that takes place in a meeting room and has been consensus-based in every hire (or non-hire) decision I've seen.
When we get a resume, we always google the person to see what we can find. It's an informal process, not something "official". If we find a mug shot of someone with a domestic violence charge, we don't have to tell HR the real why we rejected the person, we can just say "wasn't a good fit for our team". We would know from interviewing the person whether the mug shot was the same individual or not. Innocent or guilty a mug shot reflects poorly. Even if we are aware the case may still be pending and the person may be innocent, it would rattle the team enough to not want to take a chance.
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