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Mug shot

 
Mug Shot

 
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Mug shot
 
 
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A mug shot, or booking photograph, is a photograph
Photograph

A photograph is an created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a Charge-coupled device or a Complementary metal?oxide?semiconductor chip....
ic portrait
Portrait

A portrait is a portrait painting, portrait photography, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant....
 taken after one is arrest
Arrest

An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the investigation and prevention of crime. The term is Anglo-Norman language in origin and is related to the French word arr?t, meaning "stop"....
ed. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of all arrested individuals to allow for identification by victims and investigators.

mug shot was invented by Allan Pinkerton
Allan Pinkerton

Allan Pinkerton was a Scotland detective and espionage, best known for creating the Pinkerton Agency, the first detective agency of the United States....
, a famous U.S.






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Butchcassidy2
A mug shot, or booking photograph, is a photograph
Photograph

A photograph is an created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a Charge-coupled device or a Complementary metal?oxide?semiconductor chip....
ic portrait
Portrait

A portrait is a portrait painting, portrait photography, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant....
 taken after one is arrest
Arrest

An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the investigation and prevention of crime. The term is Anglo-Norman language in origin and is related to the French word arr?t, meaning "stop"....
ed. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of all arrested individuals to allow for identification by victims and investigators.

History

The mug shot was invented by Allan Pinkerton
Allan Pinkerton

Allan Pinkerton was a Scotland detective and espionage, best known for creating the Pinkerton Agency, the first detective agency of the United States....
, a famous U.S. detective of the 19th Century. Most mug shots are two-part, with one side-view photo, and one front-view. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency
Pinkerton National Detective Agency

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, was a private United States security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850....
 first began using these on Wanted posters
Wanted poster

A wanted poster is a poster put up to let the public know of a criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend. They will generally include either a picture of the criminal when a photograph is available, or of a facial composite image produced by a police artist....
 from the Wild West
American Old West

For cultural influences and their development, see Western .The American Old West or Wild West comprises the history, geography, peoples, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States , most often referring to the period of the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of th...
 days. By the 1870s the agency had amassed the largest collection of mug shots in the United States.

Prior to the advent of computer technology, the accused was asked to hold a card with their name, the date, and other information on it. In recent years, digital photography is used for the booking process, and the accused now is no longer asked to hold the card while the photo is taken. Rather the digital photograph is linked to a database
Database

A database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. The structure is achieved by organizing the data according to a database model....
 record concerning the arrest.

Etymology

The term derives from mug, an English slang term for face, dating from the 18th century. Another source suggests the term comes from mug, as in grimace, because early subjects would try to reduce their mugshot's value for later identification by grimacing or otherwise twisting their facial muscles. This led to the term mugging in the acting profession, indicating "emoting" or "overacting", i.e. an amateurish acting performance.

The phrase has also come to refer to any small picture of a face (portrait) used for any other reason.

Copyright status

Booking photographs are automatically entered into the public domain in the United States, and can be obtained by anyone through the Freedom of Information Act, except in special cases when the arrestees' record has been sealed.

See Also

  • Rogues gallery
    Rogues gallery

    A rogues gallery is a police collection of pictures or photographs of crimes and suspects kept for identification purposes. The term is also used figuratively by extension for any group of shady characters or the line-up of 'mugshot' photographs that might be displayed in the halls of a dormitory or workplace....


External links

  • at The Smoking Gun
    The Smoking Gun

    The Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is damning, shocking, outrageous, or amazing, yet also somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources....
     website