Wanted poster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wanted poster for John Wilkes Booth and accomplices for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Wanted poster for John Wilkes Booth and accomplices for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
A more modern wanted poster for Pablo Escobar, et al.
A more modern wanted poster for Pablo Escobar, et al.

A wanted poster is a poster put up to let the public know of a criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend. They will generally include either a picture of the criminal himself when a photograph is available, or of a facial composite image produced by a police artist. The poster will usually include a description of the wantee and the crime(s) with which he is charged. Wanted posters are usually produced by a police or other public government body for display in a public place, such as on a physical bulletin board or in the lobby of a post office, but in ages past wanted posters have also been produced by vigilante groups, railway security, private agencies such as Pinkerton, or by express companies that have sustained a robbery.

Wanted posters for particularly notorious fugitives frequently offer a reward or bounty for the capture of the person, or for a person who can provide information leading to such capture.

Composite images for use in wanted posters can be created with various methods, including:

  • E-FIT Electronic Facial Identification Technique via computer
  • PhotoFIT Photographic Facial Identification Technique
  • Identikit
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