Original reporting and commentary about polygraphs, voice stress analyzers, and other purported "lie detectors."
Staff reporter Karyl Walker reports for the Jamaica Observer. THE police chief warned yesterday that cops seeking promotion to senior ranks or to assignments in sensitive areas will be subject to lie detector and other integrity tests as part of his programme to root corruption out of the constabulary. Earlier the Police Services Commission (PSC) …
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy comments in his Secrecy News e-mail publication: TELLER ON POLYGRAPH In the perennial dispute over the legitimacy of polygraph testing as a tool for security screening of government employees, the late physicist Edward Teller sided with his scientific colleagues at the national laboratories …
The Albuquerque Tribune comments on polygraph screening in this editorial, cited here in full: Truth tests are flawed, so cut ’em out, DOE First, give the Department of Energy some credit. Then yank its chain – until it altogether stops using polygraph tests to try to find spies in its nuclear weapons program. The oft-troubled …
Bob Park of the American Physical Society comments on Department of Energy polygraph policy in his weekly What’s New column: 2. POLYGRAPH ROULETTE: DOE HAS MASTERED “THE EXPECTATION GAME.”A two-year study by the National Academy of Sciences, “The Polygraph and Lie Detection,” showed polygraph testing to be less than worthless (WN 18 Apr 03). You …
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy comments in his Secrecy News e-mail publication: DOE RESTRUCTURES POLYGRAPH PROGRAM Under pressure from members of Congress, scientific critics and others, the Department of Energy said that it will reduce its reliance on polygraph testing to screen its employees. “The approach I am …
Andrea Widener reports for the Contra Costa Times. Excerpt: Under mounting pressure, the Department of Energy will scale back its massive polygraph testing program to half its previous size, a move that may halt mandatory screening tests for some nuclear weapons workers. The decision is a sudden turnaround for the DOE, which this summer had …
Staff writer Ian Hoffman reports for the Oakland Tribune. Excerpt: In an about-face, top U.S. nuclear weapons officials said they plan on scaling back polygraph testing for thousands of weapons scientists and workers, in part to avoid driving them away. Yet the U.S. Energy Department’s proposed reduction of polygraph testing still would leave enough top …
Associated Press correspondent Robert Gehrke reports in this article published in Newsday. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — The Energy Department plans to use fewer polygraph tests to detect espionage at energy labs after a study said employees could be unjustly accused — in effect reversing a policy that grew out of the Wen Ho Lee investigation. The …
Richard Willing reports for USA Today. This short article is cited here in full: WASHINGTON — Citing ongoing doubts about the accuracy of lie detectors, a top Energy Department official said Thursday the department plans to eliminate routine screening of most employees. About 20,000 Energy Department workers, including many with access to secret weapons programs, …
New York Times correspondent William J. Broad reports. Excerpt: The Energy Department said yesterday in a surprise announcement that it was sharply cutting the number of lie detector tests it would give to people with access to nuclear secrets, particularly at the nation’s weapons laboratories. The deputy energy secretary, Kyle E. McSlarrow, said at a …