Why Are Collin County Suspects Wearing Towels?

Mug shots out of Collin County feature an interesting accessory, a towel wrapped around the suspects' neck. We called the Collin County jail to find out exactly why.

"They're so everyone looks the same in photo lineups," John Norton, explained.

For example, if the suspect was wearing a red shirt at the time of the crime, and one of the people in the lineup wears a similar color shirt, victims may choose the wrong suspect based more on the color of the clothing than the facial features.

Collin County uses this policy on all their mug shots, even once the suspect has been identified.

You can see an example of a toweled suspect above.

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