"The Slammer" A New Crime Magazine in Central AR

[sherry a. smith]

The Slammer

A new publication displaying who's been arrested in Central Arkansas is flying off the shelves.

Here it is. It's called the slammer. The distributors says it's a tool to help police catch criminals, but not everyone's happy about having their mug shots printed and sold at local gas stations.

KARK 4 News talked to a local distributor who says that anyone arrested in central Arkansas counties, like Pulaski and Faulkner, will probably end up in the slammer.

Right now the slammer is being distributed at 130 different locations in Central Arkansas.

The first issue came out just two weeks ago, and it's already got a lot of people talking.

When you go up to the counter at your local gas station next to the register---there's a new hot item.

Its called "The Slammer."

It's a catalog of people who end up in here...

For one dollar, you can see their faces here.

Ali Ayyeh sells the publication, "You should see the reactions on people's faces when some people see it. Some laugh, some grab it and see if they know people in there. Most of the people know people who are in their paper."

The inside says its mission is to reduce crime and help find missing persons.

But some people are confused by the categories.

It's pretty embarrassing a lot of people in here. They're making fun of mature menaces and slammer salon, its just degrading."

Categories like fight club features people with visible injuries.

Smiles and tears for those who showed a little emotion in their mugshots.

One person who's not amused? Roylette Lockhart

She says she and her family have been bombarded with phone calls ever since she appeared in the first issue July 8th.

I don't want to be portrayed as a criminal for a speeding ticket because a lot of people have speeding tickets and I just didn't have the funds to pay for mine, I committed to community service."

Although Lockhart never spent the night in jail, authorities say the service she completed was as a day-worker and that does count as an arrest.

But should it be featured in an entertainment publication like this?

We asked the distributor, who asked us not to release his identity because he's been receiving threats.

The Slammer Distributor said, "Truth is, people are more likely to pickup copies and see them and see somebody who may be committed a different crime if there is somewhat of an entertainment value to it. Obviously we want people to be a little bit entertained."

The Slammer says people deserve to know what crimes are going on around them, but do admit, it's a business. They do it to make money. The distributor also says this is no different than what other news organizations--like KARK--do.

Law enforcement agencies I called this afternoon say they don't outright support it, but freedom of information laws force them to hand over the information.

http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=333145

[chrisebeyhoneycutt]

Good idea on one level, poor application on the other. For trivial offenses, it becomes a tabloid version of the stocks. But if were just rapists and murders? Then I wouldn't have a problem with it - it could actually be used to, for example, identify new victims and connect crimes.
_________________
Dr. Chris Honeycutt, PhD
Interests: Criminology, terrorism, religious extremism, sexual predators
[Note: degrees in mathematics, biology and geology; just starting psychology]
Profiling is interesting... Crinoids are BORING!