DeputyDawg,

Thanks for the positive comments on the website.   

Unfortunately, we know of no way for an examinee to manipulate the CVSA charts to assure a passing result. Fortunately, the CVSA literature appears to stop just one step short of admitting that the device is nothing more than an interrogation prop.  The examiner's manual actually states that no employment decision is ever to be made solely on CVSA results (this might be a good starting point for a lawsuit for anyone who is actually rejected on CVSA results alone).   

To prepare for a CVSA "test," I would suggest being familiar with behavior interrogators associate with truthfulness (general denials, eye contact, arriving on time, etc). A good place to find a wealth of information on this topic is in the DoDPI Interrogator's Manual, which can be found here in the AntiPolygraph.org reading room.  Note that it is a large file and a long download.  I suggest right-clicking on the link and selecting "save to disk" so you will only have to download it once.

We will be adding more on the behavior associated with deception in the 2nd edition of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector which we hope to have available here by the end of the year.

You are correct when you say that the use of lie detectors on applicants to positions for state and local law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts is prohibited. The same holds true in New Jersey and Minnesota.   

If you wish to see this happen nationwide, I strongly urge that you visit our "Get Involved" page and spend 1/2 hour writing letters to your elected representatives urging that a new comprehensive polygraph protection act be passed.  Because mandated polygraphs have already been outlawed for use on most citizens, there are very few people left to become victims of this charlatanry.  This makes every single letter count if we hope to get the attention of Congress.

Best of luck,

Just got word I had failed my polygraph with a given LEO agency, and will NOT be given the opportunity for a re-test, even after the Captain himself assured me that would happen.  Of course, I had NOT read all the info here or from Doug Williams prior to the initial test.  If I HAD employed these techniques, I am sure I would have passed with flying colors.  There is a WEALTH of great info here on this site, and I URGE everyone to read it and practice it.  I was honest and complete in my answers on the test, but I still did not pass - I was told I was deceptive on the drug questions, something I was NOT, but something I am seeing is all too often a "bias" on the polygraphers...There's no point in appealing the decision, as no potential police officer wants to work in a hostile/challenged environment, so I'll move on to the next...

NOW, I am applying with other agencies, and am running across a screening technique called the "computer voice stress test."  Does anyone have any information on THIS procedure - how it is administered, what the criteria are, how it is scored, etc.  I'd like to find out what I can AHEAD of the game, so I can be as prepared as I should have been initially.

It's a shame that super-qualified, honest people are being weeded out of these positions based on the polygraph - I understand Mass. police agencies have banned this as a pre-employment process for LEO's - I only hope one day the rest of the country will wake up!