Issue of the day: The end of the mugshot?

THEY have been crimefighting tools for generations. Now, the mugshot’s use may be on the wane due to concerns over racial stereotyping.

Mugshots are a historic practice?

As early as 1841, French police began making “daguerreotypes” of prisoners – images on silver copper, given their name by their inventor, Louis Daguerre. But the earliest mugshot still in existence was taken by Belgian police in 1843. Within the same decade, British police also employed their first professional photographer as the practice spread.

Bertillon?

Although taking pictures of criminals began decades earlier, it was in 1888 that French police officer, Alphonse Bertillon, made it a standard procedure.

Bertillon was interested in anthropometry – the scientific study of the proportions and measurements of the human body - and created an identification system based on physical measurements, with the mugshot used to complete his records.

Format?

The pictures have always had a traditional format, with an image showing a full face and another showing a profile, both from the waist up and with simple backgrounds to avoid distraction.

Iconic mugshots?

Take your pick from a pantheon of stars, but David Bowie’s 1976 arrest for possession of a halfpound of marijuana– when he went to jail for a night with Iggy Pop in Rochester, New York – remains one of the most memorable, showing the icon looking unruffled in a smart suit.

Concerns?

The use of mugshots in the media naturally immediately conveys the message that the person has been arrested, or has been a criminal, and there have been long-standing concerns over innocence until proven guilty and jury influencing. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stated in 1968 that the format “is so familiar, from `wanted’ posters in the post office, motion pictures and television, that the inference that the person involved has a criminal record, or has at least been in trouble with the police, is natural, perhaps automatic..”

Now?

In the ongoing wake of death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis in May, a number of police forces and media organisations in the United States have said they will stop publicising mugshots of people who have been arrested. San Francisco Police said they will not release a booking photo unless there is “imminent danger”, due to stereotyping concerns.

Media?

The Sacramento Bee newspaper in California is the latest in a long line to announce it will limit their use, saying “publishing these photographs and videos disproportionately harms people of colour and those with mental illness, while also perpetuating stereotypes about who commits crime in our community”.