This is my first time posting on this board.  I have recently taken a polygraph exam for a large city police department.  Before I tell my story, I would like to commend George and Gino for their efforts and accomplishments.  Before my poly exam I had completed my written, oral, and physical exams for this dept. and was ranked in the top 15.  I have several police officer friends who discussed the poly with me.  The ironic thing is that 2 of them told me that they had lied on their exams and both had passed.  One spoke of the many times he had used drugs  which far exceeded the departments allowed usage.  The other officer friend told me that he had used illegal drugs only 7 months before his exam.  He lied about this.  They both told me that they thought polygraphs were a joke.  Their advice was to just relax and stay calm.  When I took my exam I was told by my examiner that I was hiding something on the theft issue.  I had told my examiner of anything of signifigance that I had ever stolen during my pretest, which was a hockey stick I stole from the college I attended.   At the end of my exam he told me I was being deceptive not only on the theft issue, but on the drug issues as well.  Other than a sleeping pill I took over six years ago on an overseas flight, I have never partaken in any drug use whatsoever.  I didn't have a prescription for it and it was given to me by one of my teammates.  This was mentioned to my examiner during my pretest.     I'll get to the end of my story.  My examiner failed me on issues of theft and drug usage.   I did'nt know how to react.  After arguing about it, I was told we were done and to wait to hear from my background investigator.  I received a letter about two weeks after my exam stating how I was disqualified.  This turns my stomach.  I could speak, or in this case write about this for hours, but I won't.  I have never been so disappointed in my life, nor have I ever been this angry in my life.   This chump using his ridiculous machine keeps me from the career of my dreams.  I've been told by police friends to contact the ACLU and to get an attorney.  I'm very confused on how to handle this.   In closing I want to state that there probably is a legitimate use for  polygraphs, but definately not in the screening of potential police officers.   What does it say when I personally know of 2 cops that lied their butts off and passed.  I on the other hand told the whole truth and failed.   THERE IS NO VALIDITY TO POLYGRAPHY.   I don't care what polygraphists say.  It' a bunch of garbage.  

I suggest at least doing a background investigation to start with.  What does it tell you when 2 cops I personally know beat the polygraph WITHHOUT ever using or knowing about countermeasures.  Now I know that there are going to be polygraphists that will be angry reading this, but the truth does often hurt.  Who in his right mind  could possibly think that lie detection is even possible.

Lincoln,

Many others have had experiences similar to yours, as you've no doubt noted from reading this site. I hope you'll consider working with us to put an end to polygraph waste, fraud, and abuse.

In addition to seeking legal advice, be sure to contest the polygrapher's opinion in writing and to avail yourself of any administrative avenues of appeal that may be available to you.

I want to thank George for the time he took to e-mail me.  I would also like to say that as much as I would like to disclose all pertinent information about which dept. and the name of my examiner, I will refrain from doing so at this moment in time.  The reason is I just want to discuss a few issues with my attorney first.    I would also like to point out that I find it almost humorous that many of the polygraphists who join the discussions here simply will not accept the fact that their craft is flawed.  When a person writes his or her post, more often than not they (the polygraphists) have to chime in and automatically question, or should I say doubt that the person was actually falsely accused.