>an agency does not want to telegraph their moves ahead of time, since that would give potential criminals a heads up that they are on a deadline and need to fo

>an agency does not want to telegraph their moves ahead of time, since that would give potential criminals a heads up that they are on a deadline and need to focus on cover up their crimes. I think you might mean the "potential suspects" of the investigation. "Criminal" as a basic categorization is binary in nature. All non-criminals are also "potential criminals." No criminals are "potential criminals" (they've already realized said potential).