Thanks for the info George. I briefly read thru the lawsuit, but found that the only complaint against the DEA was in a case where the applicant changed his statement because the examiner gave him a new definition of what an "occurence" would be. Are you aware of any cases of applicants being DQ's where they admit nothing?

George, My issue/question is this: The DEA is a much larger organization and hires more people than the USSS. However, there are very few complaints about their poly procedure that I could find. In contrast, there are many complaints about the USSS. The DEA Admin stated: The polygraph examination is utilized as a tool to determine and direct attention to possible problem areas in an applicant’s background. However, it is never the sole determining factor in determining the applicant’s suitability for employment by DEA. 

I'm just wondering if they are backing this up.  Frank

FD,

The Secret Service has made similar suspect claims.

Quote:


This quote was from a Washington Post article entitled "Applicants to File Suit Over Polygraph Exams" published on March 15, 2000. 

As many who post to this board are aware, Mr. Mackin's statement is at best misleading. The Secret Service may eliminate candidates by means other than polygraphy (written exams, interviews, etc). Still, the agency appears to be the #1 offender for disqualifying applicants based on polygraphs alone. 

As an aside, your point about the relative size of individual agencies and the number of complaints against them is a valid one. As you said, the Secret Service is a relatively small agency. Despite this fact, AntiPolygraph.org is contacted the most by victims of the Secret Service pre-employment polygraph--both via message board and private e-mail--(victims of local PD polygraphs as a whole generate most of our e-mail). The FBI, a much larger agency, places second. We hear relatively little from DEA applicants. Nonetheless, there is a good body of evidence (including the behavior that is described in Mark Zaid’s lawsuit) that suggests that your quote from the DEA admin may be untrue. 

The fact that many victims of the Secret Service polygraph choose to share there stories may truly indicate that the agency has a much greater false-positive rate than other agencies. On the other hand, Secret Service applicants may just be more likely to share their stories because they are indignant as a result of their treatment. A vast majority of the e-mail depicting outrageously abusive examiner behavior (lengthy interrogations, profanity, threatening gestures, etc) comes from these individuals. Therefore, another plausible possibility is that former USSS applicants are less likely to walk away without a fight when compared to those who are told something to the effect of “you failed… Don’t let the door hit you in the rear on the way out.”

HI I want to know how are the academics at the DEA academy.   I am a border Patrol agent and I had a tough time with immigration law.  I want to know if the academy is good in training since I am worried about the 80% passing rate.