person of interest

person of interest

English

Noun

person of interest (plural persons of interest or people of interest)

1. (law enforcement) Someone who police have reason to believe may have a connection to a crime, or to possess important information relating to that crime, but who has not been accused or charged by authorities nor been officially deemed to be a suspect.
   • 2009 Aug. 22, Tim Padgett, "The Pensacola Adoptive Couple's Murder: A Hit?," Time (retrieved 19 Nov 2015):

     Tice denies involvement in any conspiracy. . . . Still, Morgan says Tice and "three or four other people" remain "persons of interest" in the investigation.

   • 2013 Sept. 26, "Sayed Abdellatif inquiry will report to Tony Abbott, who called him a 'jihadist'," Guardian (UK) (retrieved 19 Nov 2015):

     Abdellatif has been interviewed five times by Australian security services since the dropping of the charges and remains a "person of interest" to the federal police.

   • 2015 Sept. 12, "Police Rule Out Detained Man, 19, as Prime Suspect in Phoenix Freeway Shootings," New York Times (retrieved 19 Nov 2015):

     The 19-year-old man from a Phoenix suburb who was detained on Friday at a convenience store near Interstate 10 is a person of interest, but Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, declined to say what had led the police to question the man.

Usage notes

• This is an informal, nonspecific term, typically used precisely in order to avoid publicly labeling someone as a suspect without sufficient evidence.

Further reading

• person of interest at OneLook Dictionary Search