The OED has this to say: “The words people and persons can both be used as the plural of person but they are not used in exactly the same way. People is by far the commoner of the two words and is used in most ordinary contexts: a group of people; there were only about ten people; several thousand people have been re-housed. Persons, on the other hand, tends now to be restricted to official or formal contexts, as in this vehicle is authorised to carry twenty persons; no persons admitted without a pass.”
Now let’s look at some examples:
Bad persons
1a The individual persons responsible are in hiding at this time.
2a He was disturbed that she’d been revealing their secrets to untrained persons.
3a Persons travelling with a child qualify for a 10% discount.
4a Even by lunchtime, several persons had already applied for the job.
5a For those persons who prefer peace and quiet, several picturesque
walking trails also start near the hotel.
Fixes!
1b Those responsible are in hiding at this time.
1b The individuals responsible are in hiding at this time.
1b The persons responsible are in hiding at this time.
2b He was disturbed that she’d been revealing their secrets to untrained employees.
3b Passengers travelling with children qualify for a 10% discount.
4b Even by lunchtime, several people had already applied for the job.
5b For those who prefer peace and quiet, several picturesque
walking trails also start near the hotel.
There are several ways around this problem when we’re working with anything less than direct commands and official statements. Rephrasing works well, as we can see in 1b (first example). We can just drop the offending persons altogether if context permits it (1b second example and 5b), or use a more specific synonym (2b, 3b). Or, simply, just exchange your persons for a people (4b). Note too that pretty much any of the fixes above can be applied in pretty much any situation, depending on your time and creativity.
In short – more people and less persons!
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