Қызығушылық танытқан тұлға: құқық қорғау органдарының термині

Term used by U. S. and Canadian law enforcement

"Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no legal meaning, but refers to someone in whom the police and/or domestic intelligence services are "interested", either because the person is cooperating with the investigation, may have information that would assist the investigation, or possesses certain characteristics that merit further attention. While terms such as suspect, target, and material witness have clear and sometimes formal definitions, person of interest remains undefined by the U. S. Department of Justice.

The use of the term became widely critiqued when United States Attorney General John Ashcroft used it in a press conference when asked if Dr. Steven J. Hatfill was a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks case. In 2002, Hatfill's attorney filed a complaint with the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, arguing that "the term is not recognized in law or criminal procedure and that Ashcroft did not have the right 'to preside over the public shredding of [Hatfill's] life. This is un American. Mr. Ashcroft owes Dr. Hatfill an apology. Hatfill sued the Department of Justice for violation of federal privacy law; the case was settled in 2008 for $5.8 million.

Normal Justice Department parlance for subjects of investigation includes "suspect", "subject" and "target". Each has specific meanings relevant to different levels of investigation. Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, wrote to the Attorney General for clarification of the unfamiliar phrase in September 2002. In December of that year, Nuclear Threat Initiative's Global Security Newswire summarized the response as follows: