Criminals by status

thumb|236px|Gustave Doré's image of the exercise yard at [[Newgate Prison (1872)]] A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a sentence in prison.

In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. By definition, a suspect is distinct from the perpetrator of the offense (perp, in dated U.S. slang), though in the United States, the word suspect is often used as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator. The term is also related to the terms defendant, the accused, person of interest, and prime suspect.

A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts, especially those recently released from prison, is "ex-con" ("ex-convict"). Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences tend not to be described as "convicts".