Watching shows like Castle and NCIS, I hear this term all the time, M.O. or ammo, or something sounding like that. Is it "ammo", like written like that, or the abbreviation "M.O.", and what does the latter mean in full? From the context I understand it means the characteristics that can identify a perpetrator/suspect in a crime, I just can't find the ammo/mo/m.o. thing.

Thanks

Modus operandi (often used in the abbreviated form MO) is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation." It is used in police work to describe a criminal's characteristic patterns and style of work.

"The expression is often used in police work when discussing a crime and addressing the methods employed by the perpetrators."  Wiki

modus operandi

"Ammo" would be an abbreviation for ammunition, or rounds for a firearm.


Anytime.

Thanks guys! Never thought to look in the Latin language direction.

And "unsub" isn't Latin.