Buster said, "the favored term is "suspects"."
I have even heard a policeman on TV describing a criminal act for which no
one had yet been arrested say that the "alleged suspects" escaped.
However, there is a distinction between "suspect and perpetrator: the
"suspect" is the person who you think committed a crime, the perpetrator is
the person who actually committed the crime, identified or not. If you
"suspect" that, say, a Frank C. obtained a chrome headlight ring in an
extra-legal manner, he would be a "suspect." The person who actually took
the chrome headlight ring (whether Frank or someone else) would, of course,
be the perpetrator. Please note that this is a fictitious scenario used
only to illustrate a point of grammar and that any similarities to persons
or events that may have actually taken place is entirely coincidental.
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