Audio clip
Rebecca Mott
Parents might brag if their child’s photo or name makes it into the newspaper, but they haven’t seen the Hamilton County edition of Local Mug Shots.
The 12-page tabloid paper debuted on local news racks last week. It features 293 mug shots of accused or convicted criminals, sex offenders and missing children, most from the Hamilton County area. Most of the mug shots are of people accused of crimes, not convicted.
Chattanooga residents Timothy and Rebecca Mott bought a franchise for the newspaper and printed their first edition of 5,000 copies last week. A company based in Florida designs the publication, while Mr. and Mrs. Mott sell advertising space.
“We were looking for a business investment, and this one seemed like a good way to open a business and provide a community service,” Mr. Mott said.
The publication sells for $1 at 16 area locations, mostly convenience stores. Mrs. Mott hopes the paper will print twice a month. So far, on the shelves for about two weeks, the paper has sold 200 copies, Mrs. Mott said. The mug shots come from a national database of wanted people, said Max Cannon, a Florida publisher who prepares Mrs. Mott’s paper for printing.
Mr. Cannon compared the publication to a local edition of the National Enquirer.
“People are genuinely curious about crime in their neighborhoods. They are just a little bit nosey,” he said. “People pick it up all the time and are shocked to see who’s wanted in their community.”
Spreading the word about local wanted people is a job usually reserved for Chattanooga Area Crime Stoppers. That group sends wanted updates regularly to local media outlets.
“We welcome any help and appreciate it,” said Lt. Kim Noorbergen, police spokeswoman and Crime Stoppers coordinator. “We don’t send this publication any information or photos, so I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but we welcome any help some outside group wants to give us in our mission. We don’t encourage people to get out there and try to apprehend these people.”
Mr. Cannon has established about a dozen similar newspapers in several Southern cities, including Nashville; Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and Jacksonville, Fla., he said. A franchise costs about $8,000 and includes the cost of printing the first 5,000 copies as well as promotional materials and guidance on sales and marketing, he said.
“There are about 30,000 warrants on file in the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office,” Mr. Cannon said. “We’re just creating an awareness about what’s going on.”
WHERE TO FIND IT
Local Mug Shots is available at 16 locations in Hamilton County, mostly convenience stores and small food markets.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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