New SFPD rule will withhold most mug shots
Police in San Francisco will stop releasing mug shots of most people who have been arrested, a change that Chief Bill Scott described as a groundbreaking attempt to curb implicit bias in policing.
The publication of mug shots on social media or in the news “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,” Scott said Wednesday as he issued the directive.
Mug shots have been at the center of controversies in recent years — particularly when published in galleries that may disproportion
ately include Blacks and Latinos, or on websites that charge people to have their photos removed.
Legal experts applauded San Francisco for the move, but a First Amendment group raised concerns that selective release of booking photos could allow abuses — such as withholding photos of a suspect who had been battered by police.
Under the directive, which went into effect Wednesday, the department will not release booking photos unless it is imperative to warn the public of danger or to seek help in finding a suspect or victim, including atrisk persons. The change comes during a time of heightened awareness of police brutality and misconduct following widespread demonstrations over the killing in May of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
Scott said in an interview he is responding to concerns from community members, the public defender’s office, prosecutors, members of the police commission and consultants. Personal experience watching TV news and seeing mostly mug shots of men of color also helped him reach the decision.
“Now, these are photos that were supplied by law enforcement, but that illustrates the point,” he said. “When you see that enough, some people can start associating groups of people with criminal activity and crime, which leads to another whole host of problems — stereotyping.”
Scott reflected on moments when he’s been the victim of apparent stereotyping — seeing startled faces when he’s walking on a sidewalk late at night before he crosses the street, hearing car doors lock as he walks by, or being followed by security at a department store.
“These things happen because of stereotyping,” he said. “I hope that this is a step toward improving that situation. There’s a lot of other work that needs to be done. But we have to do things like this, and really drill down to the things that really get at the root of why people think and behave the way they do.”
With the new order, the department’s media relations unit will manage the release of all photos and information of arrestees on the department’s and station’s websites and social media accounts. In the past, the department typically released photos unless doing so would jeopardize a case or investigation.
Police departments across the nation have long released booking photos of people arrested on suspicion of committing a crime. Some police stations in San Francisco have regularly posted such images on Twitter, touting recent arrests and operations. The new policy will halt that practice.
Officers also can no longer release, post or disseminate information about an arrested person on social media without permission from the media relations unit.
The Chronicle uses discretion when deciding whether to publish mug shots with stories about individuals accused of crimes.
“As a news organization that has aggressively covered racial disparities in policing, we share the concern that use of mug shots can reinforce bias,” said Demian Bulwa, managing editor for news. “We are reviewing the new policy with an eye on how the Police Department will make these decisions, for example in cases where a public official is arrested.
“In addition, we’ll be doing an internal review to see if we need more formal policies on when we should publish mug shots,” he said.
Dr. Jack Glaser, a professor at the University of California Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, said Scott contacted him a few weeks ago after reading his book, “Suspect Race: Causes and Consequences of Racial Profiling.”
Scott asked whether such a policy would be scientifically sound.
“I said that I was highly confident that it would be beneficial,” Glaser said, adding that it was unique in its intent.
Police Commissioner John Hamasaki, who raised the mug shot issue in February, said it marked a “good first step,” but said the order is just a notice that lasts as long as the chief wants. Such notices are typically administrativetype reminders and procedures.
Circulation of mug shots perpetuates stereotypes, especially in the digital age where a person may not be prosecuted let alone convicted of a crime, but an internet search can yield his or her booking photo.
“There’s a lot of good reasons why mug shots shouldn’t be posted,” Hamasaki said. “I don’t see any good reasons, outside of the exceptions that are in there, to post them.”
He added: “It might seem like a small step but it really is, I think, a key part of reframing the narrative on how we view Black and brown individuals in this country — removing that method of criminalizing them.”
Several lawyers and legal experts said the change presents no clear First Amendment issues.
“I think it’s long overdue,” said Michael Haddad, an Oakland civil rights attorney who has sued police for rights violations in a number of cases. “African Americans and other people of color are disproportionately arrested, and are not always charged with crimes. It’s more important for the system to focus on convictions than arrests. Publishing mug shots after a simple arrest fosters a presumption of guilt.”
There are police departments in the state that don’t release all booking photos, according to David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition.
California law requires the release of certain general arrest information — such as a person’s name, age and basic details of the arrest — but it’s unclear whether booking photos must be released, he added.
Booking photos do have benefits, Snyder said.
They can allow the public to see evidence of potential police abuse if it shows someone has been “bruised or battered in some way,” he said. Moreover, a uniform release of booking photos is less likely to raise the issue of racial bias than a selective order that allows authorities to pick and choose which photos are released.
“I am completely sympathetic to the issue of implicit bias,” Snyder said. “But I am hesitant to endorse a clampdown on the release of information.”