Drunk Driver Mugshots Featured On Facebook 321
An anonymous reader writes "Get yourself a DUI and your mugshot may get some exposure on Facebook. That is, if you get caught in New Jersey by Evesham Township's police, which have begun posting mugshots of arrested people, convicted or not, on its Facebook page. Now, we know that if you get arrested, your privacy is pretty much limited to the brand of your underpants, but the local police department has started a controversy and may find itself in hot water. How much value does a public mugshot on Facebook have to the public? What privacy rights do you have if you get arrested?"
Meanwhile, on Long Island... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Ummm... (Score:5, Informative)
All well and good, except these are being posted when these people are arrested. At this time, they are still presumed innocent until guilt is proven or they are convicted of a crime. This smacks of harassment.
Re:It's stupid (Score:2, Informative)
Releasing an arrest record is not slander. Newspapers have been publishing police blotters for decades. Arrests are a matter of public record. Get over it.
I was arrested for a crime I didn't commit. Police blotter was on Page 2. Guess which page it was reported on when the Grand Jury kicked the charges against me? Oh, that's right, it wasn't reported at all. Such is life. I bet if you were in my shoes you'd sue, wouldn't you?
Re:here, let me fix that for you (Score:4, Informative)
What privacy rights do you have if you get arrested?"
Not many. I work in public safety in the Southeastern United states. In most jurisdictions, when you are detained, your charge details and mugshots are public record. We even have a local paper that publishes HUNDREDS of mugshots every single week. It is completely legal, albeit frowned upon, but completely legal. If you went to your county courthouse and asked for a mugshot of some shmoe you saw in the public records page of your gazette, they would be obliged to give it to you.
[google.com].
Don't believe me? Go to Myrtle Beach SC, and at every gas station is a copy of Just Busted
This is not new. Electronic mugshots are not new either, many counties host pages that offer up all of their current inmate data. [washington.ar.us]
We actually deal with news agencies who get mad because we don't help provide enough data. The news sites eat this junk up. They want it in the most easily consumable format possible, and want a copypasta job so they can just put our data straight into their paper.
Also, mugshots and inmate data online is not a new thing. Check out VINE [vinelink.com], you can find out when they are released and even be notified by cell phone.
This is a non-story. This is a public safety agency using a new medium, and so it is "scandalous". Same dog, new tricks folks. Check your local laws, hell call your courthouse, you have less "privacy" than you think. Much less.
Re:Don't think this can be stopped (Score:3, Informative)
Well, and this depends on what state you live in...laws vary, but first thing to do...don't say SHIT to the cops. Here...you refuse the breath test, and for God's sake in my most every state, don't do the small tests they do, walking a straight line, touching your nose...that does NOTHING but give them probably cause, and they now film it..so, it is just evidence gathering.
If it is your first offense, and you are trashed and you know it...face it, you're going to jail. Just don't say anything, and put your hands out for the cuffs. Refuse any test you can. Even in states where refusing is an automatic loss of license for like 6mos or so...better than a DWI on your record. And even with that, and this is step #2 lawyer up...and your lawyer can generally get you a license waiver or temp or whatever they call it in your state...so that you can still drive to and from work,and often for groceries. That will get you by.
Also, (again lawyer up, less money that a DWI conviction)...a good atty can usually plead it down to something like wreckless driving. It sucks..but still MUCH better than a DWI. If first offense, you can usually get by on this.
Should people drive smashed? No. But with them lowering the BAC drunk limits to .08...a ridiculously low number, a grown man CAN be very close to it with like 3x glasses of wine with a meal, which is not unreasonable.
And lets face it...at least in the US, bars are everywhere...they all have BIG parking lots, so, don't kid yourself that people, a LOT of people go out, drink...and will have to drive home. Fact of life no matter how you wanna argue it. Likely the overwhelming majority of people leaving a bar...are legally drunk. Most everyone makes it home.
But to allow bars to serve people with cars...it is a bit hypocritical to have such low BAC to catch people and try to enforce it so much, if they also allow the situation that encourages such behavior to be so plentiful and accepted.
If nothing else...there should be a much more subjective test. The problem is impaired driving. Some people can't drive on 2 beers...some have virtually no effect on 5. A 250lb grown man can easily handle more drinks than a 110lb woman.
Re:here, let me fix that for you (Score:4, Informative)
Wow, talk about a false dichotomy. Nobody here in Norway will publish my name if I get arrested (except in some few exceptional circumstances) but there's nothing like a secret arrest. I can still contact the media, or have my lawyer contact the media. I can waiver the confidentiality requirements of the police. This is the same as if e.g. I wanted to run a story on my medical condition, they could interview my doctor if I waiver the confidentiality on my journal. A secret arrest would imply the police could prevent me from telling anyone that I am arrested, or to not acknowledge that I've been arrested.
Hell, around here I can't even get a copy of my criminal record without reason. Employers in general can't ask for one, and even when they're legally required to then only for relevant crimes. So for example I might have to get one to become a school teacher, but it'll say nothing about any tax dodging. Only if I have committed crimes against children that'd make me unfit to be a teacher. Only applying for the police or security clearance in the military will bring out your full record. You make it sound like we'd be some Kafka-esque country with secret trails and all that but we're not. There's more choices than that and public scapegoating the way the US does.