Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Bill Bishop of the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard reports. Excerpt: The mysterious murder of Cottage Grove resident Anita Cantu Lemmon in March brought sheriff’s investigators to their usual starting point: the next of kin. But this time they had a new investigative tool, a Computer Voice Stress Analyzer, or CVSA. Touted as the next generation lie …
A report about Computer Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA) on the website of Central Ohio television station WBNS (“Tool Catches Fibbing Suspects”) concludes by mentioning that the Special Forces are using CVSA to interrogate suspected terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. The entire report is reproduced here: More and more police departments in Ohio are turning to …
John Tuohy reports for the Indianapolis Star in an article titled, “Voice analyzers draw praise, flak.” Excerpt: Police departments across Indiana and the country are spending thousands of dollars apiece on a truth verification device that some scientists say doesn’t work. The Computer Voice Stress Analyzer, designed by a former Indianapolis Police Department officer, claims …
Douglas Heingartner reports for the New York Times. Excerpt: IT is a time-honored interrogation tool and a staple of film noir: the lie-detector test that can incriminate or exonerate. But such tests need not involve strapping someone to a machine. In fact, they may not require the subject’s presence – or awareness – at all. …
Canada.com reports: VANCOUVER (CP) – Lie detector technology less costly than controversial polygraphs is catching on among smaller Canadian police forces, scaring some doctors who say it’s even less reliable. The computerized voice stress analyser (CVSA), which purports to pick up tremors in the voice when a person is lying, “isn’t more than 50 per …
Staff writer Steven Mayer of the Bakersfield Californian reports. Excerpt: When Escondido police questioned 14-year-old Michael Crowe in the days following the 1998 stabbing death of his 12-year-old sister, investigators used a Computer Voice Stress Analyzer during the interrogation. The analyzer — a lie detector of sorts used by an estimated 1,300 police agencies in …
Christina Lewis reports for Court TV. Excerpt: (Court TV) – Richard Allen Nicolas’ story seemed suspicious. An unknown gunman shot at his car, killing his 2-year-old daughter, Aja. Plus, police found that his muffler was cold, although Nicolas said he had been parked a short time. But police had little hard evidence against Nicolas until …
The Associated Press reports on Glynn County, Georgia’s use of and professed belief in “Computer Voice Stress Analysis” (CVSA). Excerpt: BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Glynn County police have become true believers in a new sort of lie detector that analyzes stress in a suspect’s voice, but other police departments are not convinced. The Computer Voice Stress …
Louise Dickson reports on the first use of Computerized Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA) by Canadian police in this puff piece published in the Victoria Times Colonist. Excerpt: “Did you actually see Ruth shoot Billy?” “Yes,” the suspect replied. “Did you shoot Billy?” “No.” But the image on the computer screen told another story. In this …
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 …