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Is there anyone out there who has overcome a bad polygraph to get into LEO work and if so, how did you do it?
Keep after it ! I know at least one person who was hired by a Federal agency after flunking a polygraph at another. There is no special way to maneuver, just keep trying. Our Federal security personnel and polygraph examiners aren't always the sharpest tools in the shed. In my humble opinion, many of them would have probably been concentration camp guards had they lived in Germany in the 1930's. Often, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing among them.
Posted by: Rocketman06 Posted on: Dec 17th, 2015 at 9:23am
I took a polygraph for CBP back in the summer of 2013. I had heard a bit about the procedure and it made me nervous. I had done some things in my past that I was not proud of, but I've never even revived a speeding ticket.
I went for my exam and arrived about 20 minutes early. I made sure to eat (normally I don't eat breakfast but I was told to so I did). The examiner made me wait over an hour and a half past the scheduled start time. When I got in I decided "hey honesty is the best policy right?" So I went ahead and told him thr issue I was thinking about and I wanted to be forthcoming about it. He made me feel like it was no big deal and even stated it "wasn't like I had murdered someone" and I agreed. The problem was (as I now understand), I had just given this guy the means to wreck my life. This guy eventually had me to admitting to almost being as bad as a murderer. I had taken something from a previous employer and felt awful about it. The guy got me to say I had stolen over 2500 bucks worth product (no where NEAR, what I took and I do admit I did take something that didn't belong to me, like many people I'm sure.) Anyway, he said he felt like there was more (really guy?) and I needed to come clean (I just admitted to stuff I hadn't done because of the pressure he put on me). I had to wait 6 hours to finish and he told me we couldn't complete the exam that day. Well long of the short of that was I didn't pass for CBP.
Flash forward to today. I had applied to the TSA several months ago. The interviews went well and the personnel who did my interview told me I was way over qualified due to my BS CJ. Well I just got a letter in the mail telling me that TSA won't take me because of the CBP polygraph. It said I can dispute it, but I'm not sure what good that will do.
I live in one of the rare states that doesn't require LEO's to take a polygraph but will it matter at this point? Is my education just going to go down the capper because of my polygraph? Will local agencies know I took one (again honesty best policy)? Should I just give up on a LEO job all together? I don't want to and I think it's what I was ment to do. How long will this bad choice I made as a young man and again NO criminal record, haunt me?
It honestly has me a little depressed right now. Nothing crazy just feeling like my dream might be over.
Is there anyone out there who has overcome a bad polygraph to get into LEO work and if so, how did you do it?