A
mug shot or
mugshot (an informal term for
police photograph, or
booking photograph), is a
photographic portrait typically taken after a person is
arrested. The original purpose of the mug shot was to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of an arrested individual to allow for identification by victims and investigators. However, in the
United States entrepreneurs have recently began to exploit the mug shot for commercial gains via the
Mug shot publishing industry.