perp walk
verbal phrase, slang

- a slang term describing the police action of parading an arrested suspect in handcuffs before the media

(Investopedia)

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With the recent arrest of IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York City, even Europeans well-versed in English may have been puzzled by the term "perp walk" that has accompanied many of the news reports. Short for "perpetrator walk", this is a practice that many people feel violates the suspect's rights. Still, it is a common practice in the media age in some countries, particularly involving high-profile cases.

One of the most famous and tragic perp walks was the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald, who was accused of assassinating former U.S. president John F. Kennedy. Seen live by millions on television, Oswald was being escorted through the basement of a Dallas police station when known mobster Jack Ruby shot and killed him. Oswald never faced trial and the mystery of the assassination lives on to this day.

Then there is the "corporate perp walk." As its name implies, it involves the arrest of a business executive. One of the earliest uses of this term can be found in an August 2002 New York Times article:

"Another week, another corporate perp walk. Two former WorldCom executives were led by government agents to federal court in Manhattan, where they face charges related to that company's misstatement of billions in expenses."

Etymology: The term perpetrator and the short form "perp" in the sense of a criminal was popularised in the U.S. in the 1940s (Al Capone et al). It's from the Latin perpetratus, the present participle of perpetrare, "to perform, to accomplish" (from per- "completely" + patrare "carry out"). It originally meant "to bring into existence," from pater (father). Neither good nor bad in Latin, the first usage in English was in legal statutes, hence its sense of "to perform criminally."

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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation

"Europeans generally have a more negative view of the perp walk than Americans."