Hunter Systems Group's Mugshot Capture System FAQ

Although our NIST-Compliant mugshot capture system, Hunter Smartshot, is easy-to-use and virtually maintenance and support-free we are still asked questions about our mug shot capture system. Three of the most frequently asked questions we will address below.

Question:
Our department has several officers taking mugshots with a digital camera and the photographs are all cropped differently. This has left us with a large database of mug shots that are inconsistently cropped and framed. Can we share these mug shots with other local or national departments?

Answer:
Whenever you have officers taking mug shots that are not aware of the NIST Best Practices, there will always be slight framing issues that go against NIST guidelines. If your department takes mugshots this way, just go back and compare your mugshots for the last 1 to 3 months, or more, to see how much they differ from officer to officer. These may be shared with other departments and larger databases, but using these mug shots for identification purposes may lead to their ultimate inadmissibility in courts of law due to bias, inconsistency or other factors.

Question:
We use software with pan-tilt-zoom features and our mug shots still come out inconsistently from officer to officer. How do we correct this to follow NIST guidelines?

Answer:
With this type of system, you will almost always experience inconsistencies because of different framing interpretations from one photographer to the next. To correct these inconsistencies, officers taking mug shots should be trained in NIST best practices found on our website.

Question:
Why are NIST standards not mandated by the Federal Government, or by our state?

Answer:
The Federal Government and several states are discovering the importance of consistent and standardized mug shots as an investigative and identification tool. We believe that these governmental bodies will soon start developing standardization that will be mandated across all jurisdictions. We advise you to constantly monitor your State's progress on standardization of mug shot capturing or to contact us for periodic updates.

For more information on our mug shot capture system, always feel free to visit our website at http://huntersystemsgroup.com/