Busted MugShots – Do It Yourself Mugshot Removal

Editor Note: This content has been updated to reflect the removal process for 2018.

Being arrested is among the most stressful events that can happen in your life. Whether you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, or you’ve simply made a mistake, it isn’t hard to find yourself with a mugshot. These mugshots are often displayed by directories like BustedMugshots.com for all to see.

What’s worse is that mugshot links tend to rank high in search engines, which means they can severely damage your reputation. Even when charges are dropped, or the verdict is not guilty.

If you currently have a mugshot on BustedMugshots.com or another online directory, your reputation is at risk. We’ve seen the damage that a mugshot can do to someone’s reputation with numerous clients and we’re here to help.

Steps to remove busted mugshots

Step One – Educate Yourself

Visit www.BustedMugshots.com and search for your name to see if anything comes up. Next, search for your name on Google and add “mugshot” at the end to see if anything comes up elsewhere. You need to know what’s out there before you can fix the problem. If you find that your information is appearing on their site, then you are going to want to have it removed as soon as possible as these sites will share your information with other mugshot sites and you will likely see your mug shot on several other sites. 

Step Two – Go Directly to the Source

Now that you know what’s there, you have some options. The first option is contacting www.BustedMugshots.com and requesting the removal of the webpage with your information.

You may have to fill out lengthy forms and, due to the volume of requests, many users never receive a response, but starting with the source is a good first step. If and when you receive a reply, the directory may suggest that you employ the aid of an Online Reputation Management (ORM) company such as www.InternetReputation.com.

After clicking the "Contact" page, you will find yourself on the "Have a Question" Page. From here you can submit and ask for your mugshot to be removed. 

At the Footer of the page you will see the following message:

Disclaimer: BustedMugshots.com reproduces publicly available arrest and booking records obtained from the relevant city, county or state reporting agency. BustedMugshots.com makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information on the site, but does not guarantee accuracy of the records. The data may not reflect the status of current charges or convictions and all individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Users shall not use the data to determine any individual's criminal or conviction record. Please contact BustedMugshots.com to report an inaccuracy or call us at 800-849-BUSTED (800-849-2878). 

Unfortunately, many mugshots across the internet have these same types of options where they are not responsible for removing content from their site. However, if you are able to get it removed from the site you can progress to the 3rd step. 

Step Three – Deindexing the Page

Search engines like Google and Bing send out robots, or “spiders,” to search the content on the internet and store all information found in their indexes. When a page is deindexed, it is removed from the cache and, thusly, user search results.

Deindexing is where things begin to get unusual. There’s no set way to deindex a page, and mugshots do not fall under the content that can easily be removed per Google policy. Since you don’t have access to the mugshot website yourself, you can’t change the XML sitemap or anything of the sort. You can, however, attempt to hack the system.

Pages like this offer methods from pointing 100 URLs at your mugshot URL to sending automated queries to Google and making duplicate sites.

Step Four – Drown Out the Webpage

If deindexing is a bit much for you and, like many people, you don’t get a reply from the mugshot directory, you can attempt to drown out the webpage.

Google’s search algorithm places the strongest web pages at the top of the search results, so if you can post quality content on large websites, you might be able to hide the result. If you can produce informative, SEO-specific content (and lots of it), you may have a chance at pushing your mugshot off the first page.

Professionally Remove Busted Mugshots

Unfortunately, the DIY route of removing mugshots from directories like BustedMugshots.com is often arduous. Reputation management of any kind is a fulltime job, and when you have mugshots out there, it’s even harder. Not everyone has the time and internet savvy for the task, and it’s no wonder that more people are turning to ORM companies like Internet Reputation.

Ready to keep learning about how to remove your mugshot from mugshot directories like BustedMugShots.com? Call us at 1-888-711-7843 for additional information or click here.