Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
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 …
In a Dallas Morning News article titled “Narcotics unit has troubled past,” Robert Tharp reports on a massive but fruitless polygraph dragnet conducted by the FBI in the Dallas Police Department’s narcotics unit in 1996. Excerpt: The FBI investigated the narcotics division in 1996 at the request of former Chief Ben Click following the disappearance …
Ken Brownlee writes about voice stress analysis for Claims magazine. Excerpt: My wife came back from shopping yesterday and told me she had been listening to Clark Howard, the nation’s Number One Cheapskate, on WSB, an Atlanta radio station. She told me that he had said that Lloyd’s of London had decided to take statements …
Donna J. Robb reports for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Excerpt: Akron – A Summit County inmate admitted yesterday that his headline-grabbing claim of being a serial killer was an elaborate lie. Jason Roland West apologized to the public and to sheriff’s detectives for sending authorities on a sweeping but fruitless investigation that has dragged on …
Eric Swedlund reports for the Arizona Daily Star in an article titled, “UA on Security’s Cutting Edge.” Excerpt: John Allen, a psychology associate professor, will try to answer this question: “Is Brain ‘Fingerprinting’ Ready for Prime Time?” Conventional polygraphs measure factors such as heart rate and sweaty palms to determine nervousness or anxiety, but “brain …
Eric Swedlund reports for the Arizona Daily Star on a taxpayer-funded research program at the University of Arizona. Excerpt: To boost national security, the Defense Department is paying for a $4 million UA research project on detecting deceit in communication. In the electronic communication age, the military faces more challenges because analysts cannot always rely …