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In the parlance of criminal justice
Criminal justice

Criminal justice is the system of practices, and organizations, used by national and local governments, directed at maintaining social control, Deterrence and controlling crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties....
, a suspect is a known person suspected of committing a crime
Crime

Societies define Crime as the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some Government or force may ultimately prescribe a punishment.The word crime originates from the Latin crimen , from the Latin root cerno and Greek ????? = "I judge"....
.

Police and reporters often incorrectly use the word the suspect when referring to the actor, or perpetrator of the offense (perp for short). The perpetrator is the robber, assailant, counterfeiter, etc. -the person who actually committed the crime. The distinction between suspect and perpetrator recognizes that the suspect is not known to have committed the offense, while the perpetrator [who may not be a suspect yet] is the one who actually did.






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In the parlance of criminal justice
Criminal justice

Criminal justice is the system of practices, and organizations, used by national and local governments, directed at maintaining social control, Deterrence and controlling crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties....
, a suspect is a known person suspected of committing a crime
Crime

Societies define Crime as the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some Government or force may ultimately prescribe a punishment.The word crime originates from the Latin crimen , from the Latin root cerno and Greek ????? = "I judge"....
.

Police and reporters often incorrectly use the word the suspect when referring to the actor, or perpetrator of the offense (perp for short). The perpetrator is the robber, assailant, counterfeiter, etc. -the person who actually committed the crime. The distinction between suspect and perpetrator recognizes that the suspect is not known to have committed the offense, while the perpetrator [who may not be a suspect yet] is the one who actually did. The suspect may be a different person from the perpetrator, or there may have been no actual crime, which would mean there is no perpetrator.

A common error in police reports is a witness description of the suspect (as a witness generally describes the perpetrator, while a mug shot
Mug shot

A mug shot, or booking photograph, is a photographic portrait taken after one is arrested. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of all arrested individuals to allow for identification by victims and investigators....
 is of the suspect). Frequently it is stated that police are looking for the suspect, when there is no suspect; the police may be looking for a suspect, but they are surely looking for the perpetrator, and very often it is impossible to tell from such a police report whether there is a suspect or not.

Possibly because of the misuse of suspect to mean perpetrator, police have begun to use person of interest
Person of interest

"Person of interest" is a phrase used by law enforcement when announcing the name of someone involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime....
 to mean suspect.

Under the judicial systems of the U.S.
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, once a decision is approved to arrest
Arrest

An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the investigation and prevention of crime. The term is Anglo-Norman language in origin and is related to the French word arr?t, meaning "stop"....
 the suspect or bind him over for trial
Trial (law)

In law, a trial is an event in which parties come together to a dispute present information in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute....
, either by a prosecutor
Prosecutor

The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the Civil law inquisitorial system....
 issuing an information
Information (formal criminal charge)

Information is a formal Indictment made without a grand jury indictment by a prosecutor in a document called an information. The term is used in Canada and various other common law jurisdictions, including a number of U.S....
, a grand jury
Grand jury

In the common law, a grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether there is enough evidence for a Criminal procedure. Grand juries carry out this duty by examining evidence presented to them by a prosecutor and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing Wiktionary:presentments....
 issuing a true bill or indictment
Indictment

In the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal accusation that a person has committed a criminal offense. In those jurisdictions which retain the concept of a felony, the serious criminal offense would be a felony; those jurisdictions which have abolished the concept of a felony often substitute the concept of an indictable offenc...
, or a judge
Judge

A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law,which is operated by the local, state, and/or federal government....
 issuing an arrest warrant
Arrest warrant

An arrest warrant is a Warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and Detention of an individual....
, the suspect can then be properly called a defendant
Defendant

A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally indictment or accused of violating a crime statute....
, or the accused. Only after being convicted is the suspect properly called the perpetrator.

See also

  • Arguido
    Arguido

    Arguido or arguida , normally translated "named suspect" or "formal suspect", is a status in Portuguese language legal systems, including the legal systems of Portuguese legal system and Mozambique....