John Welsh of the Press-Editor profiles NBC “Meet My Folks” polygraph operater Nick Savastano in this puff piece. Excerpt:
RIVERSIDE – Private investigator Nick Savastano gets double takes all the time.
In airports, malls, supermarkets, wherever. Folks always think he looks like that guy on television. The one from “NYPD Blue.” You know, Detective Sipowicz.
No disrespect to actor Dennis Franz, but now Savastano can say he is that guy on television.
“And I have more hair than that guy,” said Savastano, 56.
Reality TV came knocking on Savastano’s door when a buddy dropped his name as a good candidate for a show needing a polygraph examiner. The show, called “Meet My Folks,” needed someone to run a lie detector much in the same manner Robert DeNiro’s character did in the 2000 film “Meet My Parents.”
Savastano is a 20-year law enforcement veteran who runs his investigations business, The Amherst Group, out of a converted house on Arlington Avenue in Riverside.
He scored the NBC gig for his experience and his looks.
“What a face, what a personality,” said Executive Producer Scott Satin. “He has one of those serious expressions but as soon as he opens his mouth and smiles, it’s the exact opposite. He’s a teddy bear.”
Savastano has taped more than 20 episodes of the NBC show. The program is scheduled to return this May, said a spokeswoman, Jill Carmen.
While most reality television shows strain the definition of what’s considered reality, the producers told Savastano to play his role straight as moms and dads ask questions to their childrens’ potential suitors. The questions are loony, but Savastano is as serious as a Sipowicz interrogation.
“Bear in mind, they’re still making television,” said Savastano. “They’re still making entertainment. But it’s probably the realest part of the show.”
Lies, lies, lies
People lie.
Savastano catches them.
The ex-Massachussetts state police officer has earned a living working specifically for companies doing pre-employee screening and investigations when corporation officials think they’ve got some in-house thievery happening.
American companies lose an estimated $60 billion annually related to internal employee dishonesty, said Savastano, citing U.S. Department of Commerce statistics.
He’s interviewed countless employees who he’s determined were bilking their bosses, whether it was a fast-food worker taking from the till or a forklift operator adding an extra pallet onto the back of a familiar customer’s truck.
Savastano, who claimed a polygraph examination is 98 percent efficient, is ever in wonder when dishonest people think they can beat the machine.
“If I had a dollar for everyone who shouldn’t have taken it, I’d be a rich man,” Savastano said.
Nick Savastano has previously claimed that polygraphers can detect countermeasures. Now he purports to be “ever in wonder” that dishonest people think they can beat the polygraph. Why then does Savastano refuse to support his claimed ability to detect countermeasures? See George Maschke’s message board post, A Public Challenge to Nick Savastano.