Say Cheese? A sampling of smiling mug shots posted to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s website during the last three weeks.
Credit Julie Rose
Jason Dow says this is the smile he tried to make for his mug shot last week. It landed him in lockdown for 12 hours.
Credit Mecklenburg County Sheriff
Jason Dow's mug shot from an earlier arrest at an Occupy Charlotte protest. A more recent one taken after Dow spent 12 hours in a cell because he insisted on smiling broadly has not been posted to the Sheriff's website.
Credit Julie Rose
Occupy Charlotte protester Scottie Wingfield settled for a smirk in this January mug shot after a deputy threatened to lock her up for smiling.
Mug shots. We love them, don't we? Tell me you haven't gawked with glee at the unflattering police candid of a Hollywood starlet or fallen politician. Newspapers have whole sections of their websites dedicated to mug shots these days.
But mugging too much for a mug shot in Mecklenburg County can get you locked in a cell indefinitely.
I guess the first question is why someone would smile in a mug shot to begin with?