single word requests - Disambiguation of "identify"


I recently heard on the news that:



Paris police have identified the perpetrators.



I realize this is actually ambiguous (unless I am misunderstanding something).


Have the police...


1) ...just recently found out the identities themselves?


or


2) ...finally announced the long-known identities to the public?


It is unclear, isn't it?


My question is:


How might this news report have been made more clear without sacrificing conciseness?


EDIT:


For those saying that sense #2 is not an option, consider this article here.



Answer



While I agree it is somewhat ambiguous, I think that, given the context, most people would assume the first meaning -- that the police just figured out whodunnit.


That said, to be completely clear, they could have said either



Paris police have determined the identities of the perpetrators.



or



Paris police have released the identities of the perpetrators.



I will also note that the first meaning you identified (ha, see what I did there?) is still ambiguous. It could mean either that the police just recently found the perpetrators -- "Hey, here's the guy, hiding behind the trash can" -- or figured out the identity of the persons they had already found -- "We've had this guy sitting in the hoosegow for a week now and only just now figured out his name."


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