Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
In this CNSNews.com commentary, retired FBI agent Gary Aldrich cautions against reliance on polygraphy. Excerpt: We must be more careful when we set about to protect our national security. Our children are counting on us to make good decisions, and sometimes those decisions call for tough solutions – not some hocus-pocus quick-fix remedy to get …
In today’s edition of All Things Considered, Barbara Bradley of National Public Radio reports on FBI polygraph policy. You will need RealPlayer to listen to the segment, linked in the excerpt below: FBI & Polygraphs — NPR’s Barbara Bradley reports that the recent FBI spy scandal has caused the agency to consider testing its employees …
Washington Post staff writer Dan Eggen reports on FBI polygraph policy. Excerpt: It seemed like a routine polygraph screening. Mark Mallah and his colleagues, members of an FBI counterintelligence unit in New York, were hooked up to lie detector machines and quizzed about drug use, contacts with foreigners and other subjects deemed vital to their …
In an article entitled, “Tapes were key to freeing accused Elyria man,” Sabrina Eaton and Stephen Koff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer report on an apparent extreme case of polygraph abuse by the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service. On 9 March 2001, the U.S. Navy dropped espionage charges against Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel King. …
Philip Shenon, in a New York Times article entitled, “Public Lives: A Former Insider to Investigate the Investigators,” discusses among other things, Judge William H. Webster’s thoughts on expanding polygraph screening in the FBI. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — When he was the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, William H. Webster figured that if he …
n an article entitled “Just the Truth: LAPD recruits are having trouble with new lie-detector tests,” Bobbi Murray reports for LA Weekly. Excerpt: After lagging behind other law-enforcement agencies that routinely give polygraph tests to potential recruits, the Los Angeles Police Department started using lie-detector tests to screen recruits in February. One month later, the …
Los Alamos Monitor assistant editor Roger Snodrass reports on a recent talk by Professor William G. Iacono at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Excerpt: Conventional “lie-detecting” is an outdated and dubious practice that is inherently biased against innocent people. That is the conclusion of William Iacono, a psychology professor from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, who …
n his electronic newsletter, Secrecy News, Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy reports: ASHCROFT ON POLYGRAPH TESTING Attorney General John Ashcroft gave a qualified endorsement to polygraph testing at the FBI at a press conference yesterday. “It’s my understanding that there have been cases in the past that polygraphing …
In an article entitled “FBI to Expand Polygraph Testing After Spy Case,” Reuters correspondent James Vicini notes that Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a press conference that he knows polygraph screening “tests” to have a 15% false positive rate. (Ashcroft’s actual words were, “The polygraph is said to have about 15 percent false positives…”) …
Confusing “more polygraphs” with “greater security,” ABC News reports that the FBI has decided to expand polygraph screening. Excerpt: W A S H I N G T O N, March 1 — FBI Director Louie Freeh is planning new measures to improve internal security in the wake of the Hanssen spy probe — including random …