Sometimes it feels like simply getting arrested in the digital age will result in an online mugshot. Then people will try to look them up in public records and — nothing. No photo. No trace. This, of course, begs the question: why are some mugshots not available?
The answer isn’t always straightforward. This involves legal, procedural and even technical considerations. In this article, we will try to decode the actual cause of missing mugshots.
No Photo Taken During Arrest
A mugshot just does not exist at times.
- In cases involving non-violent misdemeanors or citations, police might bypass booking entirely.
- Those who self-surrender or are quickly released often have a mugshot taken.
- It does mean if, however, there was no photograph in the system when it hit rock bottom, then there is nothing to display online.
One of the simplest but also most common reasons why are some mugshots not available.
Local and State Privacy Policies
Every so often a mugshot pops up in some far-flung part of the country strictly for writing purposes as the issue has been covered quite extensively; not all states and localities treat mugshots equally, going back to my point about Chicago pulling and deleting its own.
- California, New York, and Oregon all have laws limiting access to records for the dissemination of mugshots.
- Other agencies also will not release photos unless they have the same necessary public safety reason or ongoing investigation.
- Defining it as sensitive information, others say mugshots are being used to protect innocent individuals who, in their chance, have not been convicted yet.
The local policies contribute to creating large holes in the accessibility of online services.
Expunged or Sealed Records
Mugshots disappear, legal statuses can be determined
- If charges are dropped, a case is dismissed, or the person is acquitted, it may be eligible for expungement
- Sealed records — and mugshots — aren’t public anymore.
- This legal scrub makes it so that someone isn’t haunted online for eternity over a mistake they made in the past.
A mugshot can also be deleted for good if a record is sealed
Demands and Shifts in Web Policy
Mugshots are not permanent on the internet.
- An individual was never convicted and they have since obtained his record of non-conviction, so many websites now offer to remove the photo.
- Attorneys and reputation management firms are both able to file official takedown demands.
- Moreover, Google, and various search engines have tweaked their algorithms to hide mugshots.
That means while a mugshot might still exist online in some database, it won’t show up in search results.
Technical Glitches and Human Errors
Sometimes, however, it is red tape.
- System crashes, or simply clerical mistakes – the process of uploading mugshots can fail part-way through.
- The name has been incorrectly filed, or there is a problem with the database, and cannot get to an image that exists.
- Other mugshots are saved, but never digitally linked to publicly accessible records.
This is one more thing that contributes to why are some mugshots not available, despite there being an arrest.
My Thoughts: Mugshot Free Good to Go or Not?
Just because someone doesn’t have a mug shot posted, it does not mean that they were not, it refers generally to the non-PC or -acceptable aspects of corpses. This could merely be due to how the system handled their case. Today, an increasing number of people are being protected from unnecessarily invading the excessive exposure of other foreign nationals on the global network as privacy laws expand and public attitudes and legal access improve.
Knowing why mugshots get taken down can help you make decisions to defend your good name, or navigate if you were searching for someone, and their information is suddenly gone.