Repeater
Regular Member
WTVR interviewed a man who believes that Gotcha! Magazine may have cost him a job:
Local man upset about mugshot in magazine
After watching this on WTVR, I wondered:
Local man upset about mugshot in magazine
After watching this on WTVR, I wondered:
- Is it really helpful for public safety to publish mugshots of persons arrested for misdemeanors, including minor misdemeanors?
- Who picks up and reads Gotcha!?
- As the attorney says on-camera, the magazines disclaimers seem disingenuous when the name of the magazine implies guilt: Gotcha! -- the cops got the bad guys!
- Noteworthy is the apparent fact that the Richmond PD does not, in general, release the mugshots of persons arrested for misdemeanors; most of the mugshots in Gotcha! come from Chesterfield and Henrico
- Most gun law violations are misdemeanors; thus, an arrest for an alleged gun violation in Chesterfield or Henrico would likely mean a mugshot appearance. Even when such persons are not guilty, the stigma continues
- Suppose the General Assembly enacted a law prohibiting release of mugshots of anyone who was not arrested for a felony -- would that be helpful?
- Richmond Media Group is a part of Media General; indeed, the RTD publishes some of the same mugshots that show up in Gotcha!, including skidmark'a arrest; their excuse for the magazine seems rather lame: "The goal of the section is simple – to help deter crime." So, publishing Paul's picture helps deter crime - really?
- I wonder if gun owners would support legislation restricting the release of mugshots?