persons of interest
Under investigative scrutiny
Persons of interest is the plural of person of interest—individuals who have attracted the attention of investigators but haven't been formally accused of wrongdoing.
Law enforcement uses the term as a middle ground between witness and suspect: Police are questioning several persons of interest in connection with the robbery.
The phrase allows officials to signal focus on someone without the legal implications of calling them a suspect.
- prime suspectMost probable perpetrator
- suspectBelieve to be likely
- wanted listRoster of sought criminals
- operativeCovert field agent
- witnessOne who attests
target · handler · defendant · whistleblower · material witness · informant · double agent · mole · victim · prosecutor · accomplice · sociopath · asset · perpetrator · plaintiff · investigator · influencer · culpability
- Crime Scenecrime scene, evidence marker, evidence bag, evidence bags, crime tape
- watchlistswatchlist, no-fly list, most wanted list, wanted list, suspect list
persons of interestvictims
Those who suffer harm
investigators · crime victims · witnesses · complainants · law enforcement
person, persons, personal, personally, personality, personalities, personify, personification, personable