<P> In law enforcement jargon , a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime . Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense ( perp in dated US slang ) . However , in official definition , the perpetrator is the robber , assailant , counterfeiter , etc. -- the person who 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 yet have been suspected of the crime , and is thus not necessarily a suspect -- is the one who 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 . </P>
<P> In law enforcement jargon , a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime . Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense ( perp in dated US slang ) . However , in official definition , the perpetrator is the robber , assailant , counterfeiter , etc. -- the person who 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 yet have been suspected of the crime , and is thus not necessarily a suspect -- is the one who 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 . </P>
who is the person who commits a crime
who is the person who commits a crime
perpetrator
perpetrator