Webwith a grant from the neh, new york city’s department of records was able to digitize over 30,000 of the images and make them available for public viewing and research. Web“from 1862, copies of photographs of criminals taken by prison governors were sent to scotland yard, and formed a “rogues gallery”. In 1864 the first murder on. Called “mug shots” (after the british slang word “mug” meaning “face”) these. Webthese mugshots come from a police identification book believed to be from the 1930s. It was originally found in a junk shop by a member of the public and subsequently donated. Webtest your crime knowledge. M is for… mug shots, the criminal identification portrait. The use of photography to keep a record of criminals began in the 1840s when police forces. Webeverything about this seems too classically noir to be true. But the photograph, and true story, is one of thousands captured by sydney police between. Webbefore there were mugshots there were rogues' gallery photos. If you're interested in the history of police and prison photography during the 19th century, you're. Webpolice departments in the united states started photographing arrested men and women as early as the 1850s, and displayed their portraits for public viewing in.