'Busted' hangs mug shots out for everyone to see

Story Published: Mar 27, 2009 at 9:20 AM PDT
Story Updated: Mar 27, 2009 at 11:07 AM PDT

By Joe English, KATU News
 Video

PORTLAND, Ore. – It is just one more reason not to get into trouble: you may appear in "Busted."

It's a newspaper that shows hundreds of mug shots of people arrested for everything from speeding to rape.

Busted is new to the Portland area but is already available in six other cities across the country.

The creator says he's just making law breakers more accountable.

The local issue of the paper, which sells for $1, lists mug shots of people who have been arrested recently in Multnomah County.

The publisher, who would only give his name as Ryan due to security concerns, said everything that is in the paper is information you could find for yourself on local law enforcement Web sites.

Ryan says he gets calls from people he puts in the paper.

He says it is his way of making it easier for locals to know who's been breaking the law.

At Peterson’s convenience store, customers like Guido Casey were taking a look through the rows of unsmiling suspects’ mug shots.

"Just to see who I know who's in here," Casey said.

Casey says it's a practical tool that could let him know who he's talking to.

"I work in an alternative store, there's a lot of people who come in looking for money, other stuff," Casey adds, "so you never know…"

Publisher Ryan says he is selling about 60,000 copies a month. Even though he's making the faces of criminal suspects more visible, Ryan wants to remain somewhat anonymous, for obvious reasons.

"But you know, I honestly don't feel too bad about somebody who, you know, maybe got a DUI, maybe put my family at risk by driving drunk on the roads, or somebody that has committed a burglary, or maybe a registered sex offender who lives in your neighborhood that you didn't know about," Ryan told KATU News in a phone interview."

Some people think some of the suspects don't deserve this kind of exposure and that the paper doesn't tell enough of the story.

"She could have said something mean to somebody downtown and a cop gave her a ticket," Michael King said as he looked at one mug shot of a woman, "I don't think this is right."

Publisher Ryan said the people in the paper were picked at random and that right now the paper is a bi-weekly publication.

In a couple of months he says it will come out every week and should include just about everybody that gets arrested in Multnomah County.

Ryan says he is working on an edition for Clackamas County as well.

Busted Newspaper

May 22nd 2009

By TV20 News Desk
 Video

There is finally a magazine called "Busted," which features all of the mugshots of people who have been arrested in Marion, Citrus and Lake Counties.

At $1 a piece, Citgo Manager Mike Silmi says it outsells every publication he carries.

"The paper has been a great thing in the community, I mean people love it, and I sell quite a bit of them," Silmi said.

But not everyone is a fan of the magazine.

Rachel Gary of Ocala thinks it's an invasion of privacy. She says just because someone has been arrested doesn't necessarily mean they're guilty on that crime.

"I don't really think you should put it out there, to be honest with you," she said. "If you want to go on the Internet and look at it, that's fine, but to have it in the stores, I don't think so."

All the information listed in the magazine is public. To find the information in it, all you need is a little patience and a computer. Silmi just wishes he had thought of the idea first.

"It's free information, but the guy is brilliant," Silmi said. "I mean, he's come up with an idea that's made him some money and it's an excellent magazine. I've seen a lot of my customers in there, a lot of them. It's good to know who's walking through your door."

Roughly 6,000 papers are sold every week.

The magazine's creator does not want to be identified for fear of retaliation. He says he saw a need and knew he could fill it.

"I saw quite a few people who wanted to read their local paper, just to find out who had been arrested or had gotten in trouble recently," the creator said. "It gives you an idea of who did the crime and whose going to do the time."

A Shot And A Leer

WW talks with the man who founded the newspaper of police mug shots.
Story Published: Jul 29, 2009 at 9:20 AM PDT

By AARON MENDELSON, Willamette Week

Looking to indulge your voyeuristic streak or engage in some old-fashioned schadenfreude?

Then pick up a copy of Look Who’s Been Bu$ted, a weekly newspaper sold for $1 an issue in Portland convenience stores.

Busted, as it’s known to its fans, has been around for more than a year in 10 other cities across the country, with a pretty basic premise: It collects recent mug shots from local police websites or offices. The paper then publishes as many of the photos as it can fit, along with the reason for each person’s arrest.

Circulation is at 100,000 a month nationally and 5,500 weekly in Portland since Busted started circulating here in March. WW interviewed Busted’s founder, 34-year-old former real-estate agent Ryan Chief, by phone while he was touring upstate New York for potential new markets.

Inspiration for Busted:
Chief began to notice a few years ago that his friends’ favorite section of the local newspaper was the police blotter. “They were interested to see who had gotten caught with a bag of grass in their pocket, who got popped for a DUI,” he says. That gave him the idea “to have a rag paper that has hundreds and hundreds of arrests.”

Scope of publication:
Started in central Florida, Busted publishes in 11 cities in six states, with Portland being the most recent addition.

How Chief chooses those cities:
There are a few important considerations for Chief. Does he have connections in that town? Does the town have a large enough readership? And “most importantly do the police departments there share public information with the media as far as arrest information?” Some states, such as Washington, have laws against sharing mug shots with the media.

Busted’s success in Portland:
Chief says advertising has been sluggish compared with that in other markets. But he says Busted is selling very well in Portland. And he expects more ads from the paper’s advertising base of criminal defense attorneys and bail bondsmen as the newspaper expands. Since March, Busted has published a local edition with mug shots from Multnomah, Clackamas and Marion counties (with plans for Washington County in the works). Circulation numbers are likely to increase in the next few weeks as distribution expands to include Plaid Pantry stores, nearly doubling the 120 outlets where Busted is sold locally. Busted will also bump its page count up from 16 to 20 and publish the entire paper in color.

So Busted’s value to journalism is…:
Chief contends that Busted provides a public service by keeping communities informed of local criminal activity. And he says it also deters lawbreaking by increasing the chances of public humiliation.

But Chief is quick to admit the mag’s voyeuristic appeal. “I’d be bullshitting you if I didn’t say we glamorized it just a little bit to make it a little interesting. I want it to be interesting for people to buy it,” says Chief. “It’s kind of hard to put down, and especially if you see someone that you recognize, it makes you want to buy it next week.”

On innocent until proven guilty:
“When you see someone’s mug shot or an arrest photograph, it’s human nature to assume that maybe that person is guilty or they are a criminal and you don’t give them that second chance,” he says. “I am a firm believer in innocent until proven guilty.… We’ve got a disclaimer in there, and nowhere in our paper do we ever say that these people have been charged or been convicted, except for the registered sex offenders page. Those people have been arrested and convicted, and that’s why they’re on the state registry.… We’re pretty much doing what any other newspaper or publication does. We just do it on a larger level.”

Chief’s legal record:
Chief admits to being arrested in upstate New York for minor possession of marijuana when he was 19. He says the judge gave him some community service. “I think I had to dig up some flower beds at the courthouse and do a couple months of probation,” he says. “But that was it.”

If his mug had been published in Busted:
“Well, I think it would have been probably embarrassing and I think I would have thought about that again, you know, maybe next week when I was gonna fire up my car with a doobie or something,” he says. “Maybe that would make me think twice.”