Learn English – the name for the wall behind the suspect in a mug shot

expressionsword-choice

enter image description here

It's the wall that a suspect stands in front of when a mug shot is taken. I don't know what to call it so it's hard for me to find information about the wall itself.

Best Answer

It doesn’t really have a particular name. It’s just a wall with height markings in feet on it. However, sometimes people do refer to it as a “police lineup wall”. That because it’s the kind of thing they use in police lineups.

Notice the handcuffs in your image? It’s making some sort of comment related to getting arrested or being in jail, or having one’s mugshot taken. For example, from The Usual Suspects:

usual suspects line-up

You see this sort of wall markings all the time now in convenience stores and other places liable to be robbed. That’s because that way the video conveniently takes a picture of the bandits with their height clearly documented.

That said, the standard police lineup technique doesn’t work very well, and some jurisdictions have switched to sounder methods. But the markings left on pillars next to checkout counters for video cameras to snap pictures of still have their own uses.