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Mugshots online: Take a peek at the perps

(Court TV) -- Creating a Web site, joining a dating service or even posing naked are all good ways to land your mug on the Internet. But what if you don't want your face in cyberspace? In Gwinnett County, Ga., the solution is simple. Don't break the law.

There, the mugshot of every person arrested is posted on the Internet along with the charges -- for everyone to see.

This online docket, started by the sheriff's department a year ago, now showcases the mugshots and charges for about 14,000 arrestees per month and has received praise from other law enforcement agencies across the country.

At first, the online docket gave the department an easier way to handle the inmate traffic, says Sylvia Black, who is responsible for overseeing its operation. As the central booking agency in the county, the Gwinnett County Sheriff's department books everyone arrested in the area, which is just outside of Atlanta. With a rapidly growing population, the task only got more difficult.

"I think criminals come where the pickins are good," Black said.

Taking advantage of the Internet helped the department streamline its booking procedure. No longer were the offices flooded by reporters and lawyers clamoring to peer at the books. Instead of developing a photo, a digital camera snapped the mugshot and instantly put it into a database. The charges were linked to the photo, and the record could be easily accessed from anywhere in the country.

The system is now used regularly by department personnel, other law enforcement agencies and the district attorney's office.

The online docket book has also been well-received by the community of more than 600,000 in Gwinnett County, but not everyone is happy with it.

The first version of the system archived the photos permanently, but the department came under fire from privacy advocates and arrested individuals angry because the photos remained online even after some alleged offenders were acquitted. Their worry, said Black, was that the pictures would make it seem like they were criminals.

"It's the general problem of recalling information after it's out there," says Nick Brown, an Internet privacy specialist. "Maybe [the search engine] Google.com archived it. If they put 10,000 people up there, there are by definition going to be 150 mistakes."

Brown also questions how many of those posted on the site could go online to check whether the information about them is accurate. The site notes, "If you have reason to believe this information is inaccurate, you may submit a request for review..." But Brown says that is not enough.

"No indication is given of how long it takes between one's [postal] application to have incorrect details removed, and the update to the Web site," he said. "But presumably the interval can be reduced if your lawyer can spell 'defamation.'"

In defense of the docket, Black said the online database is a "custodial record," and not a criminal history, a sentiment echoed on the docket's front page in bold red letters. "It's all a matter of public record, and any one can come up here and look at it if they want to," she said.

The sheriff's department compromised, she added, by including a password feature that allows only selected law enforcement professionals to access records more than 31 days old.

Vincent Del Castillo, a professor of criminal justice at New York's John Jay School of Criminal Justice, agrees that the records could legally be online for more than just a month.

"Regardless of where it is, it's still public record," he said.

Del Castillo said he understands the arguments against the online docket, but noted, "You can draw analogies, though, to news reports. That person may subsequently be cleared, but the newspaper is not under any obligation to get (the news report) cleared."

Other agencies have also taken advantage of the Internet in publicizing lawbreakers. The Florida Department of Corrections, for example, has a searchable online database of offenders in Florida jails.

But the Gwinnett County system is original in that it acts as a full-fledged online docket, or register of those arrested, rather than just a database of those already convicted and incarcerated.

The county also maintains an online sex-offender registry, and a piece of legislation (Bill 176) encouraged courts to put their case files on the Web as well.

Despite all the controversy, Black says the law enforcement records are increasingly heading online. "My advice to these people is to get used to it," Black said. "We live in the information age. Nothing is private anymore. People can get anything they want."