Philadelphia Police Department

Philadelphia P.D.’s Pre-Employment Polygraph Failure Rate Pegged at 63%

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In his latest article, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Daniel Rubin documents the plight of Greg Thomas, an investigator for the city court system who recently failed a Philadelphia Police Department pre-employment polygraph despite, he insists, having told the truth. Rubin notes that since reinstating polygraph screening this year (it had been discontinued in 2002), the Philadelphia … Read more

Philadelphia Police Department to Re-Institute Pre-Employment Polygraph Screening

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Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey

WTFX Fox 29 Philadelphia reports that beginning this spring, Philadelphia Police Department applicants will be subjected to polygraph screening:

In the past two years we’ve seen a lot of Philadelphia police officers fired and criminally charged for cases of theft, assault, and drug dealer shake-downs.

So now, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey is turning to an old tool to weed out potential bad apples.

On Tuesday, Ramsey confirmed to Fox 29 that starting this spring, all recruits headed for training at the police academy’s next class will undergo a lie detector or polygraph test.

Ramsey says polygraph tests will be administer [sic] to the 125 candidates for the next police recruit class in addition to the physical, psychological and written tests.

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“Police Applicants No Longer Face Lie-Detector Tests”

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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 … Read more

“Police Drop Polygraph as Hiring Tool”

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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 … Read more