Newark police will no longer release mugshots of people arrested for minor offenses like prostitution or harassment in a policy change meant to reduce public bias and harm among marginalized communities.
Public Safety Director Brian O'Hara said mugshots remain in the public domain even when someone is cleared of wrongdoing and that risks public shaming.
"Some folks can get a hold of it, it can go viral and get completely out of hand and subject people years later to stuff that can have serious implications in other aspects of their lives," he told WNYC/Gothamist. "It's kind of like the modern day perp walk."
O'Hara said the policy revamp was prompted by an old social media posting of a group of mugshots from 2017 that suddenly went viral this week, garnering 30,000 shares and 10,000 comments in a few days. Many of the comments were incendiary and offensive to the individuals arrested for prostitution, he said.
“It just amazes how out of hand things can get with social media when stuff goes viral. It gets completely out of control,” O’Hara said. He said publicly sharing photos of those arrested for non-violent offenses is “putting some folks who may be marginalized at risk of cyber-bullying which could then encourage other acts of hate towards them.”
O'Hara said mugshots can impact future employment or housing opportunities, especially for vulnerable people like the homeless, LGBTQ people, or those with a developmental disability.
He said mugshots will still be released for more serious offenses or if police are looking for a suspect, a missing person or someone is in danger. He said minor offenses aren't indictable, generally don't involve violence and are handled in municipal court.
Newark will also remove from their social media accounts any previously-posted mugshots of people arrested for minor offenses.
It's not clear if other police departments in the state have similar policies, but places like San Francisco and Illinois have implemented similar measures. The NYPD doesn't normally release mugshots unless they are searching for a missing person or an individual wanted in connection to a crime, a spokesperson said.
