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Cleared of a crime? It doesn’t matter — your mugshot will live forever online, unless you want to cough up hundreds of dollars to have it removed.  Websites like Mugshots.com and Arrests.org have collected millions of mug shots by scraping police department websites, and if innocent arrestees want their photos taken down, they have to spend anywhere from $399 to $1,479. The other option is allowing the embarrassing — and potentially career-killing — image to stay near the top of their Google results for years. “It’s legalized extortion, in my opinion,” said Anthony Rickman, a Florida attorney who said he has handled numerous inquiries from clients seeking mug shot removal.

Cleared of a crime? It doesn’t matter — your mugshot will live forever online, unless you want to cough up hundreds of dollars to have it removed. 

Websites like Mugshots.com and Arrests.org have collected millions of mug shots by scraping police department websites, and if innocent arrestees want their photos taken down, they have to spend anywhere from $399 to $1,479.

The other option is allowing the embarrassing — and potentially career-killing — image to stay near the top of their Google results for years.

“It’s legalized extortion, in my opinion,” said Anthony Rickman, a Florida attorney who said he has handled numerous inquiries from clients seeking mug shot removal.