Editing Most wanted list

{{short description|List of criminals}}
{{other uses of|most wanted|Most Wanted (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Osama Bin Laden marked deceased on FBI Ten Most Wanted List May 3 2011.jpg|alt=: FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives web page on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) website, listing Osama bin Laden as deceased.|thumb|310x310px|[[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives]] web page on the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) website, listing [[Osama bin Laden]] as deceased]]

A '''most wanted list''' is a list of [[criminal]]s and alleged criminals who are believed to be [[fugitive|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.

==History==
The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) was the first agency to create a most wanted list.<ref name=GuardianMay2011>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/04/the-worlds-most-wanted-list |title=Who is now on the World's Most Wanted list? |newspaper=The Guardian |date=May 4, 2011}}</ref> 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 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.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/ten-most-wanted-fugitives-faq |title="Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" Program Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |access-date=January 14, 2012}}</ref>

==Context==

===Collective===
In the years following the creation of the American initial lists, other law enforcement agencies around the world, representing all jurisdictional levels, have issued their own lists of most wanted fugitives.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/05/13/bin-laden-joaquin-guzman-dawood-ibrahim-business-world-most-wanted.html |title=The World's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives |newspaper=Forbes |date=May 13, 2010 |author=Nathan Vardi}}</ref> 

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 is negligible and may even have an international scope.<ref>Miles, Thomas J. "Estimating the effect of America's Most Wanted: A duration analysis of wanted fugitives." The Journal of Law and Economics 48.1 (2005): 281-306.</ref> 

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 a shared nationality between the suspect and the jurisdiction of the law enforcement agency.<ref>Helland, Eric, and Alexander Tabarrok. "The fugitive: Evidence on public versus private law enforcement from bail jumping." The Journal of Law and Economics 47.1 (2004): 93-122.</ref> 

List members generally are not ranked by priority.<ref name=GuardianMay2011/> Historically, a higher proportion of suspected persons on such lists were  often listed in accordance with deeds pertaining to betrayal, such as [[double agent]]s, or purveyors of [[treason]].<ref>Smith, James M., and William C. Thomas. The terrorism threat and US government response: Operational and organizational factors. INST FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES US AIR FORCE ACADEMY CO, 2001.</ref>

===Individuals===
There is no official worldwide list of most wanted fugitives.<ref name=GuardianMay2011/> [[Interpol]] publishes a list of "[[red notice]]s" 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.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.interpol.int/INTERPOL-expertise/Notices |title=Notices |publisher=Interpol |access-date=January 14, 2012}} and {{citation |url=http://www.interpol.int/Wanted-Persons |title=Wanted Persons |publisher=Interpol |access-date=January 14, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-30/world/sweden.interpol.assange_1_wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-interpol-swedish-court |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707052634/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-30/world/sweden.interpol.assange_1_wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-interpol-swedish-court |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 7, 2012 |title=Interpol puts Assange on most-wanted list |date=November 30, 2010 |publisher=[[CNN]] }}</ref> In 2008, [[Forbes (magazine)|''Forbes'' magazine]] published an informal list of [[The World's 10 Most Wanted|the World's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives]], assembled after consulting with law enforcement agencies around the world. Candidates for the ''Forbes'' list were fugitives thought to be dangerous who had "a long history of committing serious crimes", who had been [[indicted]] or charged with a crime in a national jurisdiction or by an international tribunal, and who were involved with a type of criminal activity "with which legal institutions in diverse jurisdictions are grappling".<ref name=GuardianMay2011/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/04/25/crime-binladen-guzman-biz-cz_nv_0425mostwanted.html |title=The World's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives |newspaper=Forbes |date=April 25, 2008 |author=Nathan Vardi}}</ref> The ''Forbes'' list has been updated and republished in subsequent years.<ref name=GuardianMay2011/>

==Examples==
* ''[[Alcatrazlistan]]'', organized crime list in Sweden named after the San Francisco prison
* [[EU Most Wanted]]
* [[FBI Most Wanted Terrorists]]
* [[FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives]]
* [[ICE Most Wanted]]
* [[List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords]]
* [[List of most wanted fugitives in Italy]]
* [[NIA Most Wanted]], most wanted in [[India]]
* [[Saudi list of most-wanted suspected terrorists]]
* [[U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Criminals by status]]
[[Category:Law enforcement]]
[[Category:Most wanted lists| ]]