A wanted poster is a poster

Poster

A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...

 distributed to let the public know of an alleged criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend. They will generally include either a picture of the alleged criminal when a photograph

Photograph

A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...

 is available, or of a facial composite

Facial composite

A facial composite is a graphical representation of an eyewitness's memory of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of crimes.-PhotoFIT generation:...

 image produced by a police artist. The poster will usually include a description of the wanted person(s) and the crime(s) for which they are sought. Wanted posters are usually produced by a police department or other public government body for display in a public place, such as on a physical bulletin board

Bulletin board

A bulletin board is a surface intended for the posting of public messages, for example, to advertise things to buy or sell, announce events, or provide information...

 or in the lobby of a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, but in ages past wanted posters have also been produced by vigilante

Vigilante

A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....

 groups, railway security, private agencies such as Pinkerton

Pinkerton National Detective Agency

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, is a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired...

, or by express companies that have sustained a robbery

Robbery

Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....

.
In 2007, the FBI began posting wanted posters on electronic billboards starting with 23 cities, and are working to expand this system in other states. This allows them to instantly post a wanted notice in public view across the US. The FBI claims at least 30 cases have been solved as a direct result of digital billboard publicity, and many others have been solved through the Bureau’s overall publicity efforts that included the billboards.

Wanted posters for particularly notorious fugitives frequently offer a bounty or reward

Bounty (reward)

A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...

 for the capture of the person, or for a person who can provide information leading to such capture. More modern wanted posters may also include images of the fugitive's fingerprints.

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

• E-FIT
  E-FIT
  Electronic Facial Identification Technique is a computer-based method that produce facial composites of wanted criminals based on eyewitness descriptions. Janina Kaminska at the UK Home Office proposed the term in 1984...
  
  : Electronic Facial Identification Technique via computer
• Identikit
  Facial composite
  A facial composite is a graphical representation of an eyewitness's memory of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of crimes.-PhotoFIT generation:...
  
  
• PhotoFIT
  Photofit
  Photofit is a technique used by the police for building up an accurate image of someone to fit a witness' description. Photographs, rather than drawings, of individual features are used to construct an image of a suspect....
  
  : Photographic Facial Identification Technique

See also

• All-points bulletin
• America's Most Wanted
  America's Most Wanted
  America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
  
  
• Pittura infamante
  Pittura infamante
  Pittura infamante is a genre of defamatory painting and relief, common in Renaissance Italy in city-states in the north and center of the Italian peninsula during the Trecento, Quattrocento, and Cinquecento...
  
  
• Rewards for Justice Program
  Rewards For Justice Program
  The Rewards for Justice Program is the counterterrorism rewards program of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service . The Secretary of State is currently offering rewards for information that prevents or favorably resolves acts of international terrorism against U.S. persons or...