perp walk

British

noun

informal an arranged public appearance of a recently arrested criminal for the benefit of the media

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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perp walk

During a perp walk, law enforcement publicly escort a person accused of a crime as they are transported outside a police station or courthouse, usually in view of media cameras.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2025

Oswald was killed two days later by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby during a perp walk broadcast on live television.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2025

Ali pointed to the Mangione’s perp walk, where he was surrounded by heavily armed law enforcement as well as Mayor Eric Adams.

From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2025

Though he had mulled the value of doing a perp walk, there was no such parade.

From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2023

Would he be marched in front of the cameras in a perp walk?

From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2021

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023