Imagine the frustration of Googling your name and seeing that an old mugshot appears at the top of the search results. Maybe you don’t have to imagine this situation—maybe you’ve experienced it.
While, on the one hand, mugshots can be incredibly helpful in tracking down true offenders, mugshots can also ruin lives, especially innocent ones. Since mugshots are known for staying online long after charges have been dropped, many innocent people find themselves helpless to do anything about them.
The good news—there are ways to erase mugshots. But first—
Here are 3 ways mugshots can ruin an innocent person’s life:
1. Mugshots can destroy a person’s reputation.
This can be catastrophic as it affects the way people see someone who has a criminal record. People use the Internet for everything from casually Googling a person’s address to looking to connect with a person online. This means an illegitimate mugshot can easily be discovered accidentally when searching for a person’s name. And since it is unlikely that someone will ask a person about the mugshot—especially if it was discovered accidentally—it’s impossible to know how much damage has already been done.
2. Mugshots can hamper a person’s career.
It is nearly expected that potential employers will search for a new hire’s name online. Finding even wrongful mugshots can easily and necessarily prevent people from getting a new job or professional opportunity. Additionally, HR departments often frown on criminal matters for existing employees and don’t necessarily take the time to discover what happened or learn if the criminal charges were warranted.
Places of employment are often most concerned with their own reputation and don’t want to attract criminal matters for employees. So an unwanted mugshot could land someone in hot water at work, or at the very least, stand in the way of career advancement.
3. Mugshots can prevent or destroy a person’s relationships.
Potential dates or new friends are often encouraged to do some research online to ensure the person they are getting to know is someone with a clean past. An unwanted mugshot can instantly shut down any possibility of a future relationship—especially if the potential date or new friend doesn’t have the ability or courage to ask about it.
Bottom line: Mugshots have every potential to haunt an innocent person’s life for years. It isn’t an overstatement to say an unnecessary mugshot has every ability to change a person’s life and future. So what’s the answer?
First, learn how to find mugshots.
Second, if you have a wrongful mugshot, you need the help of a background check removal service. The right service will be able to remove all traces of your past criminal history as well as any online arrest records from the Internet, restoring your personal privacy and hard-earned reputation.
