Mug Shots - Past, Present and Everything in Between

Have you ever watched any thriller or action films wherein at the end of the movie, after the good guy wins, the bad guy is sent to jail and has his/her picture taken before he/she is sentenced to cold hard time in prison? Two shots compose photographs like this, one front view and one side view. These two pictures, when joined together, is what a mug shot is.

A mug shot is also known as a booking photograph or a police photograph, and is the picture taken of a person after he/she has been arrested, for whatever crime the person may have committed. Follow the link to learn more about Salt Lake City Mugshots. The one front-view and one side-view idea of a mug shot might have been inspired by Alexander Gardner, who took pictures of the accused conspirators in the Lincoln assassination tragedy in 1865, wherein he showcased the accused with two full body shots, in which one of the pictures showed the criminals with their heads to the side for a profile shot.

    The term mug shot come from the English slang term 'mug' which in the 18th century meant face. It was during the 19th century when a U.S detective invented the first ever mug shot. Allan Pinkerton's National Detective Agency then started using these mug shots of criminals on the Wanted posters during the Wild West days, and after a while, the agency managed to amass the largest collection of mug shots throughout the United States.

    Technology has changed so much over the years, and nowadays, anyone can easily search for mug shots online and even do a background check on any person of his/her choice, to see if tha individual has a mug shot and therefore a criminal record or police background. Let's say for example that you are a concerned mother living in Salt Lake City, and you wish to quickly scan through the different mug shots of the criminals in the area. All there is to do is for you to go online, click onto any search engine, type in the phrase Salt Lake City Mug Shots or SLC Mugshots and wait for the links to appear which will then lead you to the different websites holding the photos you wish to scan through.

    The mug shot is one of the reasons why an ex-criminal has a hard time regaining his/her life after being sent to jail, for any quick background check will quickly expose his/her criminal history and thus prevent the individual from getting a good job after being released from jail. Read more about SLC Mugshots. Mug shots are therefore just another reason why one should never ever hurt another human being, either directly or through stealing from them or cheating on them. Not only is it horrible to hurt or harm another person, but you may just as easily ruin your own life in the process.