Back in 2013, during a criminal justice class, I whipped up Rowan County Mugshots as part of a project. Surprisingly, it caught fire almost instantly, racking up thousands of followers before it even got graded. After that initial buzz, I kinda put it on the back burner, but the requests just kept pouring in. So, I decided to give it another shot. Now, it's not just Rowan County—Stanly County, Kannapolis, Cabarrus County, and Forsyth County all have their own mugshot pages.

As for who I am? Just a regular community member, like most of our followers. Not many know I'm the one behind these pages. I figured out pretty quick that if I wanted to keep it fair and post all mugshots, I had to keep my identity under wraps. Yep, I've even posted mugshots of coworkers, family, and folks from church. Funny enough, the whole idea for this page came from stumbling upon my own mugshot online from my rebellious teenage years.

So, what's the goal here? Well, three things: to keep the community informed, hopefully prevent repeat offenses, and create a space where we can openly discuss crime in our area.

This page has its fans and its critics. But what really keeps me going is messages like the one I got from a 15-year-old girl who'd been through something unimaginable. When she saw the mugshot of the person who hurt her posted on the page, she reached out to thank me. She said reading the supportive comments from our followers made her feel like she had an army behind her. That's what it's all about—thanks, RCM family.