Modus operandi
:
For other uses of the term, please see Modus operandi (disambiguation)Modus operandi (often used in the abbreviated form
MO) is a
Latin phrase, approximately translated as "
mode of operation." The plural is
modi operandi ("modes of operation"). It is used in
police work to describe a
criminal's characteristic patterns and style of work.
The term is also commonly used in
English in a non-criminal sense to describe someone's
habits or manner of working, the method of operating or functioning.
A criminal's MO may also be used in
offender profiling, where it can also be used to find clues to the perpetrator's
psychology.
The method of operation or MO is sometimes confused with a criminal's "signature". While a criminal's MO may change over time, his or her signature will usually stay the same.
