A Vermont police department has stopped posting mug shots on its Facebook page after people made inappropriate comments about some of the people whose pictures were displayed.
South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple weighed the public's right to know against the chance that some of the people arrested could be permanently harmed. The Burlington Free Press reports that he decided posting the photos does more harm for people who might be successful in a post-arrest program or have their charges dropped.
Mug shots will still be shared with media outlets.
Other police departments in the state have different policies. The paper reports that Winooski posts the photos in the interest of public transparency while Rutland doesn't because its chief says that's not the goal
of the department's Facebook page.
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