A mugshot is a vital part of criminal record documentation. When a suspect is arrested for a crime, he/she is taken into booking by the arresting authority. During the booking, personal details of the suspect are recorded and kept by the arresting authority, and one such detail is the mugshot – a photo representation of the suspect.
Mugshots allow law enforcement agencies to keep records of suspects, and to distinguish between individuals. If for any reason, you need to view mugshots – you can do so online. How can you perform a free mugshot search? here are the best online mugshot resources.
Go to a state department of corrections website
Mugshots are available to the public, so they are considered ‘public records’. To make the files available, law enforcement agencies in each state operate a department of corrections official websites. To find mugshots on such websites, you need to:
Type the name of the state + “department of corrections” into a search engine of your choice.
Enter the official website of the said state.
Go to the “offender search” or similar search tab on the website. Enter the name/number of the offender to find his/her mugshots.
Go to police department/sheriff websites
Another official resource for criminal records and mugshots is the website of the arresting authority. If you know which authority made the arrest, you can search its website in a search engine of your choice. To perform such a search, you will need to know in which county the arrest took place, and which authority made the arrest.
Go to a police station
If you want to find mugshots of a crime that was committed in your city, you can visit the police station. Go to the police during its operation hours and fill out a request form. One thing you should know is that not all such searches are free mugshots searches; in some cases, you will need to pay a search fee.
Go to a Federal Bureau of Prisons website
If the person whose mugshot you want to find has committed a federal crime, you need to perform an FBI mugshot search. Go to the official FBI website, and search the arrest records of the person in question.
Use free background check websites
Another way to perform a free mugshot search is to try a free background check website. There are several websites that offer free access to public records. Some provide free access to arrest records, but not all. Free background check websites usually provide basic details about people, such as contact information, email, whether individuals have a criminal record, and more. However, for a more in-depth report, you will need to pay extra. There are free background check websites that provide a basic report and require a fee for a full query. So, you should know that while some websites say that they are completely free – it is not always the case.
Professional online mugshot search
If you want to perform a free mugshot search, there are several ways to go about it. however, a professional mugshot search is guaranteed to provide you with accurate and quick results. What is a professional mugshot search? a search that is performed by the scanning of public records. So, to find mugshots, you need to use a website that has complete access to public records, such as GoLookUp.
To perform a mugshot search with GoLookUp, you need to provide the full name and state of residence (past or present) of the person in question. Then, the directory will begin to scan public records, and will provide you with a detailed and complete criminal records report of the person in question that includes; name, aliases, arrests, convictions, and of course-mugshots.
If you cannot find what you are looking for with the name search, the website provides several other directories that you can use:
- Reverse phone number search
- Reverse address search
- Reverse email search
Each directory provides a complete background check report, and you can use the information that you have to find data about people. The website provides an unlimited search, so you can perform as many queries as you want – with no extra fees.
Important note
There are cases in which a criminal record has been expunged and sealed. In such cases, the criminal records data is NOT available to the public. So, if you use several resources and cannot find mugshots, it could be because the case has been sealed/expunged, or that the individual in question was simply never arrested.
Mugshots provide law enforcement agencies with valuable details about arrests. They can also provide you with information about the people in your life. You can use a free mugshot search directory or a paid-per directory. Make sure that you spell names correctly, and if you do not how, you can perform a mugshot search with one of the public record search services that are provided by GoLookUp.
