Arizona sheriff hosts 'mugshot of the day' web vote

[Feuer Frei!]

Ms Dierx, who is charged with murder, burglary and armed robbery, is just one of the suspects whose mugshots are being used in a bizarre competition run by a sheriff in Arizona.
Visitors to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office website, mcso.org, are encouraged to vote on which mugshot "you like best" from among the suspects being held.
Each day the image with the most votes is prominently displayed on the front page of the site.
Voters can choose to browse mugshots by category of felony — arson, assault, fraud, homicide and so on — or enter a first name, last name and booking number.
Understandably, the competition has drawn fire from some — but Sheriff Joe Arpaio says it's a good thing.
"I'm putting these people on the web because maybe someone will recognise the person — 'oh that's the same person who did something to me, or stuck up a store'," he said.
"I think it's a great law enforcement technique."
It seems visitors to the website agree.
Alongside the "mugshot of the day" poll, there's another one — asking whether or not the competition should be allowed to continue.
The results are overwhelmingly in favour. At the time of writing, 84,000 people had voted "yes" and just 20,000 "no".
This isn't the first time Sheriff Arpaio has been in the news for his controversial decisions.
Last month he was criticised for raiding a suspect's house with several armoured vehicles and a tank carrying Steven Seagal.
An attorney for the suspect accused Sheriff Arpaio of staging the dramatic raid for the benefit of Seagal's TV show Lawman.


SOURCE

"I'm putting these people on the web because maybe someone will recognise the person — 'oh that's the same person who did something to me, or stuck up a store',"

Errr, yea right.

"I think it's a great law enforcement technique."

Right on Brother. Err...wait, what?
Only in America, right? Or should that be Only in Arizona?

[nikimcbee]

What did I do wrong?

[August]

Making fun of convicts is one thing but people just being charged with a crime do not deserve being mocked and vilified by what they jokingly call law enforcement in that county.

[mookiemookie]

Can I vote for Sherriff Arpaio's mugshot?

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

Originally Posted by mookiemookie

Can I vote for Sherriff Arpaio's mugshot?

I would really like to see this option but I doubt it. Mr. Arpaio would propably end up to front page...

[tater]

The tv news stations here have a "today's arrests" section with mugshots, and have for ages. If the information and pictures are in the public domain shouldn't they be available to the citizens at large?

[August]

Originally Posted by tater

The tv news stations here have a "today's arrests" section with mugshots, and have for ages. If the information and pictures are in the public domain shouldn't they be available to the citizens at large?

Because it is an invasion of privacy that will have a negative impact on the person being pilloried. I think if the concept of innocent until proven guilty has any meaning then it should not be allowed.

[razark]

If it turns out that a person featured on the website had been worngly arrested, would Sheriff Arpaio be offering a public apology for subjecting him to public disgrace?

[flatsixes]

Mug shots are "public records," as are all arrest records. Consequently, there isn't anything (short of a sense of professional ethics) to prevent their publication. What's interesting here is that it's a government agency doing the publication. Talk about poisoning the jury pool! Maybe Sheriff Whathisname will feel a mite differently about his little stunt after a judge starts tosses cases out left and right. Idiot.

[Tchocky]

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office back in the news. Blech

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by razark

If it turns out that a person featured on the website had been worngly arrested, would Sheriff Arpaio be offering a public apology for subjecting him to public disgrace?

Probably not...he can apologize when the court date is set.

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office... Maricopa County Clown's Office rhymes better... or even Maricopa County Clown Office but latter one is a bit unfair to deputies.

[Armistead]

I see nothing wrong with if the shots were only people previously arrested and need to be found.
If he's posting pictures of people already in jail for the fun of it, bad idea.

We have a dozen crime shows on TV that post pictures/mugshots of suspects before they've been found guilty, murderers and rapist. Hundreds have been found and convicted. Never heard of one case where it was thrown out of court for being on TV.

Even many local news outlets will show video clips or pictures of possible suspects.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Armistead

I see nothing wrong with if the shots were only people previously arrested and need to be found.

We have a dozen crime shows on TV that post pictures/mugshots of suspects before they've been found guilty, murderers and rapist. Hundreds have been found and convicted. Never heard of one case where it was thrown out of court for being on TV.

Even many local news outlets will show video clips or pictures of possible suspects.

Exactly...much to do about nothing.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Exactly...much to do about nothing.

Would you say the same if your daughter was featured on that page just because she came around the wrong corner at the wrong time with some junkies behind it when a police squad raids them? (I know that this isn't a prime example but I can't think up something better right know and I think you know what I mean.)