A most wanted list is a list of criminals and alleged criminals who are believed to be at large and are identified as a law enforcement agency 's highest priority for capture. The list can alert the public to be watchful, and generates publicity for the agency.
6-397: Most Wanted may refer to: A most wanted list used by a law enforcement agency to alert the public, such as: Most wanted list The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was the first agency to create a most wanted list. The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list was inaugurated on March 14, 1950, at the direction of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover . The idea for the list came from
12-462: A list of " red notices " identifying and describing fugitive persons who are wanted by a national jurisdiction and are being sought internationally for capture and extradition . This is, however, an inclusive list rather than a "most wanted" list. In 2008, Forbes magazine published an informal list of the World's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives , assembled after consulting with law enforcement agencies around
18-592: A question asked by a reporter for the International News Service . The reporter asked the FBI to provide names and descriptions of the "toughest guys" that the agency wanted to capture. After observing the high level of public interest generated by the resulting news story, Hoover decided to publish a formal list. In the years following the creation of the American initial lists, other law enforcement agencies around
24-424: A shared nationality between the suspect and the jurisdiction of the law enforcement agency. List members generally are not ranked by priority. Historically, a higher proportion of suspected persons on such lists were often listed in accordance with deeds pertaining to betrayal, such as double agents , or purveyors of treason . There is no official worldwide list of most wanted fugitives. Interpol publishes
30-428: Is negligible and may even have an international scope. In such collective scenarios, there is a common assumption that making it onto a fugitive-like list necessitates rendering such an individual as a leading figure within one's field of turpitude. However ofttimes such an individual's upturn in notability may largely stem from notoriety caused by mainstream media sensationalism or in international situations, due to
36-406: The world, representing all jurisdictional levels, have issued their own lists of most wanted fugitives. Although lists often contain lone suspects, they sometimes contain individuals who form part of a larger network. Sometimes this can constitute a closely knit network as a gang, but can also constitute a loose-connected or a person within an umbrella agglomeration whose association to one another
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