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A mug shot (or mugshot) is a photographic portrait taken immediately after one is arrested. Most mug shots are two-part, with one side-view photo, and one front-view.
Commonly, the accused is asked to hold a card with their name, the date, and other information on it. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of all arrested individuals to allow for identification by victims and other investigations.
The term derives from mug, an American slang term for face. The phrase has also come to refer to any small picture of a face used for any reason.
The Smoking Gun has a collection of mugshots of current and historical celebrity mugshots.
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