FBI to Give Police Lie-Detector Tests

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Kevin Johnson of USA Today reports on the FBI’s plans to polygraph police officers serving on Joint Terrorism Task Forces: WASHINGTON — The FBI will give lie-detector tests to hundreds of state and local police officers assigned to terrorism task forces across the country as part of a new effort to battle espionage and unauthorized … Read more

Tremors of the Trade

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Retired NYPD detective Warren J. Sonne writes for Officer.com in an article titled, “Tremors of the Trade: Investigative Tool or Troublesome Black Magic?” Excerpt: Over the past decade, police departments all over this country have lined up to purchase Voice Stress Analyzers. In a country that has placed restrictive rules of law on the police … Read more

American Polygraph Association Says Bogus Ph.D. No Grounds for Disciplinary Action!

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In reply to an ethics complaint against polygrapher Edward I. Gelb of Los Angeles, who is falsely holding himself out to the public as a Ph.D., the American Polygraph Association has stated that “the APA does not attempt nor does it presume to govern the designation of titles or degrees conferred upon its members.” As … Read more

NYPD Polygraph Program

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Philip Messing of the New York Post reports on the New York Police Department’s polygraph program: THE ‘TRUTH SQUAD’ HURTS (CRIMINALS) By PHILIP MESSING June 5, 2006 — Call it the NYPD “Truth Squad.” They’re nearly one dozen newly trained detectives skilled in administering “lie detector” exams – tests given to several hundred witnesses and … Read more

The Polygraph-Induced Confession of Sandra Kemper

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On 1 June 2006, Sandra Kemper was released from the St. Louis County, Missouri Justice Center after four-years of pre-trial detention, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today in “Woman accused of killing son is set free,” by William C. Lhotka. Kemper had confessed to setting a fire that killed her 15-year-old son during a post-polygraph … Read more

Pharmacist Caught on Videotape Stealing Pills Passed Polygraph

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Matt McFarland reports for WNYT.com (News Channel 13, Albany, New York). Excerpt: Drug Trafficking Ring in Warren County May 20, 2006 BY MATT MCFARLAND A drug trafficking ring was recently discovered by authorities in Warren County. Jaime Meyers 28 of Selkirk, along with a husband and wife from Chestertown are behind bars. Authorities recently found … Read more

Hoffa Informant Donovan Wells Passed FBI Polygraph

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Pete Yost of the Associated Press reports: Hoffa Informant Said to Pass Polygraph Informant, a Prison Inmate, Recently Passed a Polygraph in Hoffa Probe, Investigator Says By PETE YOST The Associated Press WASHINGTON – The informant who is spurring the search for Jimmy Hoffa’s remains is an ailing prison inmate who recently passed a polygraph … Read more

DEA Polygraph Report Available Online

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In “Leaked Report: Drug Traffickers Obtained Classified DEA Documents from U.S. Embassy in Bogota ‘At Will,’” Bill Conroy of The Narco News Bulletin discloses a report (1.3 mb PDF) on the polygraph examination of a confidential source by DEA Special Agent E. Victor Perez. Despite widespread agreement in the polygraph community that polygraph examinations should … Read more

Duke University Lacrosse Player David Evans Releases Polygraph Report

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On Tuesday, 16 May, recently graduated Duke University lacrosse team captain David Evans released the results of a polygraph examination that his lawyer says shows he is innocent of a rape charge for which he was recently indicted. AntiPolygraph.org makes no judgment on Evans’ guilt or innocence, but the polygraph results are evidence of nothing. To begin with, polygraph “testing” has no scientific basis, and the results are easily manipulated through the use of simple countermeasures that polygraphers have no demonstrated ability to detect.

Moreover, under terms of attorney-client privilege, a lawyer can take his client from polygrapher to polygrapher until he “passes” a polygraph examination. The results of any failures can be kept secret. Thus, the results of attorney-brokered polygraph examinations have less than zero diagnostic value, as the only results that will ever be made public are those that favor the client. The main purpose for releasing such polygraph results is to shape public opinion, including that of potential jurors, with “evidence” that would not be admissible in court.

It should also be noted that the computerized scoring algorithm touted by polygrapher Robert J. Drdak was completely discredited by a panel of scientific experts who conducted an independent review.

John Stevenson of the Durham Herald-Sun reports on Evans’s polygraph results in “Lie Detector Report Released”:

Lie detector report released

By John Stevenson : The Herald-Sun
jstevenson@heraldsun.com
May 16, 2006 : 10:36 pm ET

DURHAM — In a lie-detector examination he apparently passed, indicted Duke University lacrosse player David Evans said not only that he didn’t assault the accuser, but also that he didn’t see or hear anyone else assault her, nor does he know about anyone else assaulting her.

Evans’ attorney released a copy of the polygraph examiner’s report Tuesday, a day after District Attorney Mike Nifong indicted Evans on one count each of first-degree rape, first-degree sex offense and first-degree kidnapping. The report is not admissible in court.

The polygraph examiner, Robert J. Drdak of Advanced Credibility Assessment Services in Charlotte, wrote attorney Joe Cheshire that he believed “this examination strongly supports the truthfulness of Mr. Evans?.”

Drdak said Evans’ answers were “well within the non-deceptive range” and were cross-checked by two methods. One of those was a computerized scoring algorithm developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory, a nonprofit technology development organization at Johns Hopkins University.

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