Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Freelance writer Roger Calip profiles West Hartford, CT police polygrapher Paul Melanson in this puff piece for the The Hartford Courant. Excerpt: West Hartford Police Sgt. Paul Melanson’s detective abilities cover a wide spectrum. His skills range from the step-by-step deduction required for a field investigation of a kidnapping or homicide to the careful analysis …
Helen Kennedy of the New York Daily News Washington bureau reports. Excerpt: Insisting Chandra Levy was randomly attacked while jogging, Rep. Gary Condit’s lawyer said yesterday he would advise him to take an FBI lie detector test — if asked. “Yes, I’d strongly consider an FBI polygraph,” said Mark Geragos, Condit’s third lawyer. “If they …
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy in Government Project reports in today’s Secrecy News electronic newsletter: ANNUAL POLYGRAPH REPORT PUBLISHED The Department of Defense this week released its Annual Polygraph Report for 2001, reaffirming the Department’s commitment to polygraph testing as an instrument of counterintelligence and criminal investigations as well as for …
Megan Garvey and Eric Lichtblau report for the Los Angeles Times. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — The decision by the FBI to administer polygraph tests to hundreds of federal workers at two top military research facilities marks a new effort by investigators to smoke out individuals who might have information about last year’s deadly anthrax attacks. Seven …
Thomas J. Gibbons, Jr., reports for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Excerpt: In a major policy shift, candidates for the Philadelphia Police Department will no longer have to pass a lie-detector test to be accepted to the force, according to a directive from Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson. The order takes effect immediately, affecting a new list …
Gloria Campisi reports for the Philadelphia Daily News. Excerpt: The Philadelphia Police Department is scrapping the polygraph test as a hiring tool. Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said yesterday more intensive background checks would replace the lie detector test, which has been in use here for more than 20 years. The action was hailed by a …
Scott Shane reports for the Baltimore Sun. Excerpt: The FBI will soon begin giving polygraph exams to scores of employees at the Army’s bio- defense center at Fort Detrick in Frederick and at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah to see if a government insider mailed the anthrax that killed five people last fall, an FBI …
Associated Press writer Christopher Newman reports. Excerpt: WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department is preparing to give lie detector tests to hundreds of federal workers at two facilities where anthrax is stored, hoping to identify suspects in the letter attacks, a law enforcement official said Monday. Beginning in June, the government will administer the tests …
Pierre Thomas reports for ABCNews.com. This short article is cited here in full: May 20 — The government will launch a wide-ranging program of polygraph testing to determine if one of its own employees is responsible for last year’s anthrax attacks, ABCNEWS has learned. As many as 200 current and former employees at Fort Detrick …
In an article titled, “FBI seeks to rebuild its image,” Chris Mondics of the Philadelphia Inquirer Washington bureau reports that Roger L. Trott, chief of the FBI’s agent training unit, asserts that nearly half of FBI agent applicants who pass preliminary tests don’t pass the polygraph. Excerpt: …The bureau expects to hire only about 5 …