# Why is the term person of interest used instead of suspect? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061 "2017-11-29T15:42:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/21 "2017-11-30T03:39:47Z")
If you want to know why they don’t use the word “suspect,” look up [Richard Jewel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Jewell#Libel_cases)l. I prefer the British locution: “He is assisting the police in their inquiries.” ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/22 "2017-11-30T03:52:53Z")
You sure are a touchy lot. I can think of one particular case where the media stressed that the person of interest was _not_ a suspect. The police couldn’t ID the person on the video or recording or whatever, so they released the details saying they wanted to talk to the person of interest, who was most likely simply an unwitting witness. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/23 "2017-11-30T03:59:02Z")
For every person who is a suspect, there are going to be at least several persons of interests, who are not believed to have been directly involved in the commission of a crime but may have useful information. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/24 "2017-11-30T06:01:11Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > For every person who is a suspect, there are going to be at least several persons of interests, who are not believed to have been directly involved in the commission of a crime but may have useful information. And declaring a person to be simply a “person of interest” can be sufficient cause to detain the person and hold him in custody for as long as the police think they need him, if they fear (for whatever reason) that he may flee. (ETA: Or am I thinking of “material witness”?) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/25 "2017-11-30T19:20:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If you want to know why they don’t use the word “suspect,” look up [Richard Jewel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Jewell#Libel_cases)l. > > I" Very similar to post #6, perhaps?😛 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/26 "2017-11-30T20:30:30Z")
In fairness to \*\*RealityChuck \*\*though, you have to admit that for awhile there back in '96 Mr. Jewell was the most interested-in man in the world. A guy like that deserves double-billing. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/27 "2017-11-30T21:07:35Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In certain crimes, being called a “suspect” could completely ruin a persons life- they could lose their job, their wife, their freinds, and get beat up just becuase. Altho even the “person of interest” label can be bad. > > [Richard Jewell - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Jewell) +1 My grandfather got arrested (for 12 hours before his alibis and witnesses convinced a judge that this wasn’t whom they were looking for) by the FBI on a case of mistaken identity (he really looked exactly like the mugshot) and although he found it amusing, it even affected his position at the church (asked not to be a money counter) and at the Knights of Columbus (never a position or commission again). He was never even a person of interest or a suspect but any association with a crime has a negative effect on your life. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/28 "2017-11-30T21:17:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In fairness to \*\*RealityChuck \*\*though, you have to admit that for awhile there back in '96 Mr. Jewell was the most interested-in man in the world. A guy like that deserves double-billing. Very true, which is why the smiley. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/29 "2017-11-30T22:50:48Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > In my experience ( and I often have reason to talk to police officers about this very issue) , it refers to someone the police are interested in talking to for whatever reason. Maybe they’re a suspect, maybe the police believe the person is a witness, or maybe the police believe the person has information that they want. Could be any of them , it’s meant to be non-specific. The problem is that since it may mean “suspect”, people tend to assume it \*always \*means suspect. Doreen nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/30 "2017-12-01T16:06:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And declaring a person to be simply a “person of interest” can be sufficient cause to detain the person and hold him in custody for as long as the police think they need him, if they fear (for whatever reason) that he may flee. > > (ETA: Or am I thinking of “material witness”?) IANAL - But it seems to me “person of interest”, “suspect”, etc. are simply terms that law enforcement use with the public and have no legal standing. Whether you can detain a person still boils down to probable cause, with all the legal nuances involved. Just because someone’s husband shot several hundred people does not mean you can hold them, or compel them to answer questions, absent actual evidence that would reasonably allow the police to infer there are grounds to believe the they committed a crime. But, if someone’s husband did shoot a few hundred people and commit suicide, certainly interviewing the wife or girlfriend(s) about his recent behaviour would be high on the agenda for the police. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/31 "2017-12-02T22:28:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > At any rate, “person of interest” casts a wider net and has a broader meaning than “suspect.” It can be someone who may have some knowledge of the crime. Like during the Las Vegas shooting, I remember the shooter’s wife being “a person of interest” as the news reports started coming out (so much so that some people thought she actually _was_ the main suspect. This is why we use phrases like “person of interest.”) This was the first thing that came to my mind. “Person of interest” is much, much broader than “suspect”. Just someone that the police want to check out for a variety of reasons: maybe involved, maybe knows something, etc. A very “maybe” situation. So a weaker phrase is needed. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061/32 "2017-12-02T22:33:04Z")
There used to be a category called material witness. Perhaps this has replaced it. Sometimes it was used for a possible suspect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-term-person-of-interest-used-instead-of-suspect/803061.md?page=1)