Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Grover Cleveland “Cleve” Backster, Jr., a leading figure in the field of polygraphy, died on 1 July 2013 according to the American Association of Police Polygraphists, which has posted an obituary (PDF). He was 89 years old. Backster is the reputed founder of the CIA’s polygraph program and in 1959 founded the oldest private polygraph …
AntiPolygraph.org has obtained a copy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Assistant Commissioner for Internal Affairs James F. Tomsheck’s “CBP-IA Five Year Report” (4.4 mb) showcasing his office’s performance from Fiscal Years 2008 to 2012. CBP-IA is the office behind Operation Lie Busters, an effort to criminalize the teaching of polygraph countermeasures. Assistant Commissioner Tomsheck …
On 21 May 2013, the BBC News Magazine published an article titled “The Curious Story of How the Lie Detector Came to Be.” The article briefly traces the development of polygraphy from John Larson’s construction of the first polygraph instrument for the Berkeley, California police department. AntiPolygraph.org co-founder George Maschke is among those interviewed for …
Marisa Taylor reports for McClatchy on the high failure rate of the FBI’s pre-employment polygraph screening program using, among other sources, a 198-page document containing complaints of discrimination associated with the Bureau’s polygraph program. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — Thousands of job applicants come to FBI offices all across the country every year, eager to work for …
Marisa Taylor reports for McClatchy on the close ties between some public employees with influence over polygraph purchases and polygraph manufacturers. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — When polygrapher Walt Goodson began moonlighting for a private company, he didn’t think the law enforcement agency he worked for would care. After all, his supervisor at the Texas Department of …
Marisa Taylor reports for McClatchy on a flaw affecting the Lafayette Instrument Company’s LX4000 polygraph system, which is widely used by federal, state, and local government agencies. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — Police departments and federal agencies across the country are using a type of polygraph despite evidence of a technical problem that could label truthful people …
On Tuesday, 14 May 2013, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan posted to its Facebook page a story about a program whereby U.S. forces in Afghanistan have been training Afghans in the use of a handheld “lie detector,” the Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System (PCASS) developed by the National Center for Credibility Assessment …
On 6 May 2013, Greta van Susteren told U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that Fox News has information that CIA Director John Brennan has threatened Agency employees who might provide information to Congress regarding the 11 September 2012 raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya with polygraphs. Sen. Graham said he had heard the …
AntiPolygraph.org has received a previously unpublished report of investigation (934 kb PDF) by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office into an information-sharing program operated by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Internal Affairs (CBP IA), headed by CBP Assistant Commissioner James F. Tomsheck. ((Tomsheck’s office appears to be the lead agency …
The New York Times reports that Mexican security officials, who had previously been subjected to polygraph screening by U.S. polygraph operators, have declined to do so since the inauguration of Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto on 1 December 2012. Excerpt: MEXICO CITY — In their joint fight against drug traffickers, the United States and Mexico …