Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Ric Sapnu reports for the Philippine Star on the use of polygraphy in a high-profile murder case in the Philippines. Excerpt: Sr. Supt. Ismael Rafanan, Pampanga police director said that Siegfried Wittman, 68, a German national, earlier a suspect in the killing of American tourist Brian Thomas Smith, passed the lie detector test conducted by …
Los Angeles Times staff writers Jill Leovy and Matea Gold, in an article titled “Parks Defends Record on Crime, Consent Decree,” mention that Police Chief Bernard C. Parks acknowledged a 50% pre-employment polygraph failure rate in a meeting with reporters on Friday, 8 Feb. Excerpt (emphasis added): On recruiting, Parks argued that factors outside his …
Associated Press writer Michael Rubinkam reports on the pseudoscience of voice stress analysis. Excerpt: PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police want to know if a suspect is lying, but the polygraph test comes back inconclusive. What’s an exasperated interrogator to do? Increasingly, law enforcement agencies are using a technology that measures “voice stress” — small frequency modulations …
Rebecca Sloan Slotnick discusses recent detection of deception research involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and thermal imaging in this article published in the March-April 2002 issue of American Scientist. AntiPolygraph.org’s George Maschke was among those interviewed for this article.
In an article titled “Madison-Plains arson probe is heating up,” Madison Press (London, Ohio) staff writers Steve Smith and Jim Boggan report. Excerpt: LONDON — Out-going Madison-Plains Superintendent Adam Miller has provided what he called “an alibi” as investigators increase their efforts to solve the Nov. 29 arson fire on the campus in Paint Township. …
Xu Xiaomin writes about polygraphy in China for the English language Shanghai Star. Excerpt: You can remain silent, or everything you say may be subjected to a lie detector test, whose value is still suspect. Generally speaking, perspiration is easiest to control by individuals attempting to cheat the polygraph, but pulse, blood pressure and especially …
Palm Beach Post staff writer Bill Douthat reports on alleged impropriety in the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. The allegations involve polygrapher Harold Thomas Sorensen, a member of the Florida Polygraph Association. Excerpt: A sheriff’s polygrapher who gave a lie detector test to the daughter of his boss failed to properly report her deceptive answers …
The South African Press Association reports on the polygraph interrogation of Luyanda Mboniswa, who is accused in the strangulation and stabbing death of Marike de Klerk, the ex-wife of former South African president F.W. de Klerk. Excerpt: Cape Town The man accused of murdering former first lady Marike de Klerk, Luyanda Mboniswa, failed a second …
Marsha Paxson gullibly reports on Computerized Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA) for the Lake Sun Leader of Camdenton, Missouri. Excerpt: MORGAN COUNTY – The same type of lie detection machine used to test former President Bill Clinton when he claimed not to have had sex with Monica Lewinksy is now being used in the arsenal against …
In an article titled, “FBI Flooded With Applicants,” Los Angeles Times staff writer William Overend reports that about 20% of special agent applicants who make it as far as the polygraph fail it. Excerpt: Mike Hilliard, who retired three years ago after 21 years as the chief recruiting agent in Los Angeles, estimated that about …