Define complainant.

• A. A police officer who investigates a crime.
• B. A person who reports a crime or alleges that a crime has been committed.
• C. A witness who saw the crime.
• D. A person who commits a crime.

Answer: (B)

A complainant is the person who reports a crime or alleges that a crime has been committed to law enforcement. This person initiates the formal process by making a complaint or filing a report, which starts the investigation. They aren’t the investigator, and they aren’t necessarily the witness who testified later; they’re the party who brings the matter to authorities. A victim can be the complainant, but it can also be a bystander or someone acting on the victim’s behalf. The other roles described—an officer who investigates, a witness who observed the crime, or the person who commits the crime—fit different parts of the process and not the role of the complainant.