Find Mugshots NY

New York booking photos have a specific privacy rule—not just a generic FOIL exemption

That means there is no ordinary statewide public “mugshot database” that FOIL requires agencies to populate. The controlling text is in Public Officers Law § 89. An agency may lawfully release a photograph when the statutory law-enforcement-purpose condition is met, but a requester should not assume a booking photo will be released simply because the agency possesses it.

Request the photo from the agency that actually holds it

1. 01
   Identify the booking agency

   Use the arrest location, date, incident number, booking number or court papers to identify the police department, sheriff or other agency.

2. 02
   Describe one record precisely

   Ask for the specific arrest/booking photograph tied to the identified event rather than “all mugshots for a name.”

3. 03
   Use that agency’s FOIL channel

   State agencies generally accept electronic FOIL requests; local agencies use their own records-access officers or portals.

4. 04
   Keep the written response

   A written denial or partial denial tells you whether the issue is privacy, another exemption, no responsive record or wrong custodian.

A denial has an appeal route, but an appeal does not guarantee release

Section 89 requires an agency receiving a reasonably described written request to make the record available, deny it in writing, or acknowledge receipt within five business days and give an approximate decision date. If access is denied, a requester may appeal in writing within 30 days to the agency head, chief executive, governing body or designated appeals officer; the appeal determination is due within 10 business days.

Use the agency’s published FOIL/appeal instructions. The New York DCJS FOIL page is a concrete example for DCJS-held records, but it is not a universal portal for every local police or sheriff booking image.

Use a different official source when the real task is not the photograph

A booking photo is not proof of guilt or final disposition

A photograph can show that an image was taken in connection with a booking event. It does not establish a conviction, and its absence does not prove there was no arrest. When the outcome matters, verify it with the source court or the appropriate criminal-history product rather than treating a photograph as a verdict.