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Beyond Tiki, Bilge, and Test / Bilge

Has "person of interest" replaced "suspect"?

Pages: 1 10 replies

T
Turbogod posted on 03/18/2005

Just got finished reading the local news webites and they are all using "person of interest" instead of suspect. Is this a nationwide thing? Why was I not informed of this earlier? Is this the new hotness?

J
JTD posted on 03/18/2005

My hunch...somebobdy sued the bejeebies out of a law enforcement agency for using the s-word. Lost his job, lost his friends, can no longer sleep at night, etc.

Whaddaya think?

T
Tiki_Bong posted on 03/18/2005

Is a person of interest later a person of conviction?

J
johntiki posted on 03/18/2005

I think JTD hit it on the head...it's not the media that has coined the new terminology it's the police departments. Person of interest just doesn't have the nice harsh negative ring that suspect does...

T
Turbogod posted on 03/18/2005

On 2005-03-18 09:16, Tiki_Bong wrote:
Is a person of interest later a person of conviction?

Seems to work out that way most of the time.

T
tikivixen posted on 03/26/2005

I'm waiting for them to replace "unsub" with something that doesn't sound quite so much like a sandwich.

Z
ZebraTiki posted on 03/26/2005

Somehow the sentence, "Round up the usual people of interest" doesn't hold the same allure.

S
stuff-o-rama posted on 03/28/2005

What if the person is boring?

AC
Atomic Cocktail posted on 03/28/2005

Note: "Suspect" is unword. Replace with "Person of Interest".

Double-plus good!

G
Gigantalope posted on 03/29/2005

It's a Fed thing.

The guy who was "a suspect" in the Atlanta Bombings was called that by the FBI "A Suspect" He filed a suit against them for using that phrase, which defamed his person as he ended up not being "Found Guilty"

As I understand it, it's mostly the Federal Govt who uses that term now.

M
mahalomo posted on 04/01/2005

Here's an article on this from a while back:
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/02/16/Worldandnation/_Person_of_interest__.shtml

I think "Dude" or "Chick" would be better (and less damaging in the long run) but that's just me.

Pages: 1 10 replies