Today, most of the correction departments provide the mugshot database on their websites, so anyone can easily access it—the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) is one of them. The MCSO mugshots actually show a list of arrested individuals who are suspected of being perpetrators or involved in a criminal act.
Since mugshots are automatically entered into the MCSO website, a mugshot of a suspect can easily be found on it through the “mugshot lookup tool.” If you happen to want to look for it at MCSO but don’t know how to do so, you shouldn’t worry since we’ll show you the guide to finding MCSO mugshots below.
Guide to Accessing MCSO Mugshots Lookup
It’s pretty straightforward to find the MCSO mugshot lookup tool since it can be found after a few seconds when you access the MCSO website. To make it easier for you to find it, you can do the following steps:
- First, visit the official MCSO website or click here for direct access to MCSO mugshot lookup.
- Once you are at the homepage of MCSO, hover over the “I Want to…” menu.
- From the drop-down menu, choose “Find a Mugshot.”
- After clicking it, the page will show a list of mugshots showing the photos of the suspects who were arrested by MCSO.
- The mugshots are shown with 10 entries; if you don’t find the mugshot you’re looking for, you can change the entries to 25 or 50 entries.
- To make it easier, you can search by the name of the suspect. You shouldn’t enter the full name of a suspect; instead, you can only put his or her first name or last name in the available bar. For example, “Smith.”
- The list will show the mugshots in accordance with your search. You can then scroll down the list until you find the mugshot you want.
- After finding it, you can click “More Details” to make sure that’s the mugshot of the suspect you’re looking for.
Congratulations! You successfully found the mugshot of a suspect at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) website. Of course, you can then use it to identify the perpetrator of a crime, whether the perpetrator is really the person in the photo or not.
What Can You Find on the MCSO Mugshot Lookup?
Aside from the photo of a suspect or defendant, you can also find other information from the MCSO mugshot lookup, including:
- Suspect’s first name
- Suspect’s last name
- Suspect’s date of birth
- Suspect’s crime type
- Suspect’s booking date
- Suspect’s gender
- Suspect’s appearance, such as height, weight, hair color, and eye color
- Suspect’s count of charges
What is a Mugshot for in an Investigation?
In investigating a crime case, investigators will usually use a photographic portrait of a suspect called “mugshots.” These are typically used for identification purposes, as well as to keep a record of the disclosure and the appearance of the individual at the time of arrest.
The mugshots allow the investigators to have the photographic records of all individuals arrested to easily identify the perpetrator. The photo of the suspects will usually be shown to the victim and also to any witnesses to make sure the person in the photo is truly the perpetrator, so that the investigation can be more focused and narrowed down to one or more suspects.
In addition, journalists and researchers usually use mugshots to gather information about patterns and trends in crime as well as to investigate issues related to law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
How is Mugshot Created?
As you know, mugshots are photographs that are taken by law enforcement agencies soon after an individual is arrested and also charged with a criminal offense. The arrested individual will be photographed from the shoulders up in two parts (one frontal view and one side view).
The background of a mugshot is commonly plain to avoid distraction from the head. To determine the identity of a criminal, the mugshots can also be compiled into a mug book. Before the presence of computer technology, the defendants were required to hold a card with their name, the date, and other information on it.
The mugshots were created in the 1840s, only a few years after the discovery of the photograph. Over the past years, digital photography has been used for the booking process, and the defendant is no longer required to hold the card while their photos are taken.
Today, mugshots are usually attached to a database record regarding the arrest, especially in high-profile cases. In addition, mugshots are also made available to the public through a variety of means, both online and through printed publications such as mass media.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
