|
Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
|
To those about the convictions outrage angle...
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Strange Famous
If they were publishing CONVISTIONS then I have no problem with it at all... I believe this is current practice in any case.
Publishing the names of people who have not yet been convicted but only arrested and charged with a certain offence is utterly outrageous, and if this is happening here all responsible people should be sacked and barred from ever holding public office.
Im not even joking. This is a horrific abuse of office, if I am reading the story correctly.
Most times I think that we live in a society where everyone is too free to sue, but (again if I read this correctly) I hope that the authority is sued into financial ruin by anyone who is publicised as arrested for any crime which they are later found not guilty for.
This is an attempt to create, perhaps in a small way, a police state - ignoring the courts and passing a guilty sentence at the point of arrest. It is a terrible thing, a disgrace... the responsible should be thrown out of office and if possible deported.
|
Such harsh words, yet where where you in 1938 when Sinatra got popped for "carrying on with a married woman". It is one of the most famous photos of Sinatra. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and other civil rights marchers have had their mugshots. Their charges also dismissed. But the photos and the paperwork associated with it are public records. The difference here is that they are inviting the media to attend a press conference on Tuesday morning. In other words, what is normally not spoken about and just done regularly, is being given more press than the "we arrested suspected 40 DUI/DWI" over the weekend.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by laconic1
Agreed. I have no issues with publicizing convictions once due process has run its course, but it seems lately in an effort to appear as tough as possible on crimes the whole concept of innocent until proven guilty is being cast aside.
|
really? It's been done for many years since arrest records are public records. Anyone is free to look them up and find them. There may be fees involved in finding the information, but there is no challenge to getting the information especially if confronted with press or Freedom of Information Act.
Quote:
Frank Sinatra was arrested by the Bergen County, New Jersey sheriff in 1938 and charged with carrying on with a married woman (yes, you could get popped for that back then). The charge was later changed to adultery, and eventually dismissed.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by The_Jazz
I'm pretty much in complete agreement here. Mistakes are made by people. Sometimes those people are those with authority. That's why there's not a 100% conviction rate.
|
I agree with you to some degree. An example clearly stating your position.
Quote:
Honey, You're Under Arrest
Nevada sheriff's deputy busts his wife (also a cop!) for DUI
AUGUST 14--Meet Charlotte Moore. The Nevada sheriff's deputy was pulled over for drunk driving Saturday night--by her own husband, a fellow cop. The 36-year-old Moore, pictured in the below Elko County Sheriff's Office ID photo, was stopped by Deputy Mike Moore, at about 11:40 PM for some kind of moving violation. However, she allegedly left the scene before a Breathalyzer test could be conducted. Moore, driving a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am, was then pulled over again by her husband, who this time called for backup from the Elko Police Department (officers from which subsequently arrested Moore on a driving under the influence rap). Moore, who was released after about two hours in custody, has been placed on paid administrative leave from her post as a jail deputy. (1 page)
|
The Smoking Gun is famous for its "mugshots of the famous" collection. They already have posted their Mugshots for Memorial Day, which is viewd by many as it's Fark'd weekly. They even have themes Overflowing cleavage, witty T-shirts, camouflage, bandages, hair styles, strippers, strippers again, strippers yet again, and strippers round 4. There is plenty of fodder for this type of activity.
Newsday, the paper that is for Long Island and which Tom Suozzi presides over, publishes their own regular mugshot goodness. They write: These are the arrest or booking photos provided by Long Island law enforcement officials. A criminal charge is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty before a jury of the accused's peers.
There's even mugshots.com, localmugshots.com, even some police departments Monroe County Sherrif's Office which publishes the arrest log for 7 days.
Local store owners do it, I've seen many mom & pop shops with photos of people who beat them with fraudulent checks or even shoplifting.
Quote:
Online mug shots in shoplift cases raising concerns
by Elias C. Arnold - Apr. 8, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
A controversial law-enforcement tactic used to deter crime is now targeting shoplifters, reviving the debate over the civil liberties of people who are singled out for an offense they may or may not have committed.
Avondale is the latest police agency to post suspects' mug shots online. The city publicizes photos of adults arrested and accused of shoplifting, even if they haven't been convicted.
Police officials say they're helping merchants by cracking down on shoplifting, which peaked at 94 reports in October.
But the American Civil Liberties Union and Valley defense attorneys question whether the practice infringes on citizens' rights.
"I think we have to look at this from a public-policy perspective" and ask if the program is effective, said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona. "This is part of a growing trend" to penalize people who are arrested, no matter if they're cleared later, she said.
El Paso; Chicago; and St. Paul, Minn., already post suspects' photos online to curb DUI, prostitution, domestic violence or public indecency.
In Arizona, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office began displaying convicted DUI offenders' photos in December. The county Sheriff's Office posts photos of suspects booked into its jails for about three days.
Avondale is the first in the Valley to zero in on shoplifting through the same tactic.
The city averaged about 74 shoplifting reports per month in 2007.
From January through March, there were 173, an average of about 57 per month, according to police figures.
In March, the southwest Valley city launched the online program.
"(Stores) keep on losing merchandise. And with that, they keep on losing profit," said Sgt. Memo Espinoza, an Avondale police spokesman. "Our purpose is not to embarrass the individuals."
Janet Becchina, who manages an Avondale Walgreens near Dysart Road and Van Buren Street, fights store theft daily, sometimes confronting shoplifters without bothering to contact police.
Becchina said she already hangs photos of shoplifters at the store, but posting their pictures online could be extra helpful.
She said viewing the photos could help her employees recognize suspects' faces if they enter her store.
Psychological impact
Yet legal experts say Avondale's program runs counter to the presumption of innocence and could taint a jury pool, making it difficult to get a fair trial without changing venue.
"We know from talking to lots of juries that they give lots of weight (to what police say)," Phoenix defense attorney Joey Hamby said.
Even though Avondale's Web site states "all persons are entitled to the presumption of innocence," the disclaimer does little to dissuade people from assuming the suspects listed are guilty, Hamby said.
"If they (police) thought the guy was innocent . . . his picture wouldn't be up there," he said.
Month of notoriety
Avondale began posting photos of adults arrested on suspicion of shoplifting in mid-March. The Web site - www.avondale.org/police - hosts the photos for about a month.
The suspects named from February arrests range in age from 18 to 61. Some have no previous criminal record, while others have an extensive case history.
Donna Hawk's picture is among 18 appearing online in connection with February arrests.
Hawk, 40, of Avondale, admitted she made a mistake, her second shoplifting offense in 14 months. She said the ordeal of being caught, going to court and paying fines was embarrassing enough.
She said she knew her March conviction for shoplifting from an Avondale Wal-Mart could show up in a background check, but she never thought it would be so easily accessible to anyone browsing Avondale's Web site.
"If they're going to single people out, there are worse people than shoplifters," Hawk said.
Across the nation
Some cities believe publishing suspects' photos online has been effective, although they acknowledge it is difficult to measure.
Patrick Camden, deputy director of news affairs for Chicago's police force, described the tactic as one in a series of measures the city uses to fight prostitution, a primary complaint among locals.
"We try to make it (prostitution) as difficult as possible to discourage the activity," Camden said.
El Paso has faced a lawsuit related to posting suspects' photos.
Javier Sambrano, an El Paso police spokesman, said the city settled the case by clarifying its presumption-of-innocence disclaimer to say the site does not reflect case outcomes.
The St. Paul Police Department began publishing suspects' photos in partnership with a local newspaper in the early 1980s before moving the program online in the '90s, according to spokesman Tom Walsh.
He said prostitutes have told undercover officers they would not go to St. Paul. He believes publishing suspects' photos "has had a deterrent effect, but I can't say that it's been a blanket success.
"If that were true," Walsh said, "we wouldn't have to run undercover operations. Period."
|
__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.
|