fugitive

Fugitives are often profiled in the media in order to be apprehended, such as in the TV show America's Most Wanted.

A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known as a wanted person^{[1][not in citation given]} (Interpol uses the terms fugitive and wanted person synonymously),^[2] can either be a person convicted or accused of a crime, who is hiding from law enforcement in the state or taking refuge in a different country in order to avoid arrest in another country.^[3]

Interpol is the international authority for the pursuit of trans-border fugitives. Europol is the European authority for the pursuit of fugitives who are on the run within Europe, and coordinates their search, while national authorities in the probable country of their stay coordinate their arrest. In the United States, the U.S. Marshals Service is the primary law enforcement agency that tracks down federal fugitives, though the Federal Bureau of Investigation also tracks fugitives.

As a verbal metaphor and psychological concept, one might also be described as a "fugitive from oneself". Finally, the literary sense of "fugitive" includes the meaning of simply "fleeing".

In many jurisdictions, a fugitive loses the right to appeal any convictions or sentences imposed on him, since the act of fleeing is deemed to flout the court's authority. Most recently, convicted rapist Andrew Luster had his appeals denied on the basis that he spent six years as a fugitive (he was convicted in absentia).^[4][5][6]

Terminology

While a person is being sought for potential arrest, the person may be described variously as being "at large," "considered armed and dangerous," or as a "person of interest" to law enforcement. The latter term is frequently used in an "All-points bulletin" issued to other law enforcement persons or agencies. A person who has jumped bail after arraignment in court may be hunted or pursued by his bail bondsman, and a bounty may be "on his head." The act of fleeing from the jurisdiction of a court is described colloquially as "fleeing justice" or "running from the Law." A "wanted poster" may be issued, especially by the FBI, culminating in the "FBI's Most Wanted List" of fugitives.

"On the lam" or "on the run" often refers to fugitives. Mencken's The American Language and The Thesaurus of American Slang proclaim that lam, lamister, and "on the lam" — all referring to a hasty departure — were common in thieves' slang before the turn of the 19th to 20th century. Mencken quotes a newspaper report on the origin of 'lam' which actually traces it indirectly back to Shakespeare's time.

Its origin should be obvious to anyone who runs over several colloquial phrases for leavetaking, such as 'beat it' and 'hit the trail'. The allusion in 'lam' is to 'beat,' and 'beat it' is Old English, meaning 'to leave.' During the period of George Ade's 'Fables in Slang' (1900), cabaret society delight in talking slang, and 'lam' was current. Like many other terms, it went under in the flood of new usages of those days, but was preserved in criminal slang. A quarter of a century later it reappeared.

Mencken also quotes a story from the New York Herald Tribune in 1938 which reported that "one of the oldest police officers in New York said that he had heard 'on the lam' thirty years ago."

Methods of finding fugitives

Various methods can be used to find fugitives. Phone taps and pen registers can be used on relatives. Credit card and cell phone activities and electronic transfer of money can also be traced. Wanted posters and rewards can also be used.^[7] Jail records are also sometimes used; for instance, after the U.S. Government determined that Timothy McVeigh had perpetrated the Oklahoma City Bombing, he was found in a local jail. Various countermeasures can be used by fugitives, as described in books such as The Paper Trip and Perpetual Traveler, to make it difficult for others to find them.

See also

• Bounty hunter
• Extradition
• I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, a 1932 Pre-Code crime/drama film starring Paul Muni.
• Manhunt (law enforcement)
• Outlaw
• Prison escape

US specific:

• America's Most Wanted
• FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

References

External links

Look up fugitive in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• AMW.com
• Fugitives wanted by FBI
• Interpol Wanted List - Recent
• Fugitives wanted by US Marshals