I have recently discovered the horrors of polygraphs, and I am simply appalled at the amount of faith that is put into such an archaic device.

I 2003, I was hired by the State into a Special Police police position, so that even though I work for the State, I am not a "Trooper," on the road and was not required to go to the State Police Academy.  I was able to go to an academy in my hometown, still a respected Police Academy in my state.  I am a certified Police Officer for my entire state.

Anyway, my position (actually overseen by the Department of Health) did not require a polygraph, because we are a very small department (12 officers split between two locations) and out duties rarely require us to handle evidence, or testify in court.

In January of 2004, I began my Academy, which consisted of members of 11 different municipal and county jurisdictions.  It was assumed that everony had taken a poly, althouhg I later found that two other officers for small town departments had not required them to take one either.

While working for the Dept. of Health, I simotaneously had an active application for the State Fire Marshal's Office, and was called upon to for an interveiw.  The interview was overwhelming, and word spread (as it does among law enforcement fraternity) to my instructors at the Academy, and it was largely assumed (by the academy, and local Fire Marshals that I had been in touch with) that I would be hired.  At the interview, I was told I would be called for a poly, and was within two weeks.  The poly was conducted by the State Police, as the Fire Marshal's Office falls under their jurisdiction.

It is important to note, that as a current state employee, I would be given preference for this job, because it would be considered a lateral transfer within the state, not a new hire.

Well, I went into my poly interview, and admitted to everything thing I had ver done, right down to every traffic warning, to sometimes eating food without paying in a restaurant I had previously worked at, to stealing ten dollars from my dad for gas money when I was a teen.

It is also important to note that in my state (which I will be willing to identify only if anyone asks), it is written on the interview packet (and is repeated by the examiner) that the state doesn't care about your previous crimes.  There is virtually nothing in your past that will disqualify you from employment, but lying about it on the test will dispqualify you.  I suppose this is a ploy to dupe the examinee into admitting every dirty little secret, but I bought into it, and came out with everything, and even boderline activities that the examiner frankly could have cared less about.  I even named friends that were recreational marijuana users.

Well, after my poly (which was five relevent questions and five control questions, repeated three times) I was informed that I failed.  However, I was given an opportunity for another polygraph because of the nature of the questions aksed.

The first question I was asked in each sereis was "Did you come here today intending to lie about anything in your past?"  I showed positive for deception on the first sereis, but not the second and third.

The last question of each sereis was "Have you lied about anything in your past, or have you lied about any question I have just asked you?"  I showed no deception in all three sereis.  There were relevent  questions that I was showing deception on, but not on these first and last qualifying questions.  What kind of sense does that make?

The post test interveiw turned into somewhat of an uncomfortable interogation (not that any part of the test was comfortable to begin with).   But I made an appointment to come back in two weeks.  And two weeks later the same results were reached.

Needles to say, I was devastated.  I had never particularly wanted a career in law enforcement, but I didn't mind working for the Dept of Health because it wasn't  standar police work.  And I wanted to work for the Fire Marshal's office because of the large degree of investigative and scientific techniques applied to that feild (I graduated college with a degree in biology and a heavey concentration in chemistry in 2003).   

What I always wanted to do was non-traditional police work, such as lab work, because that's what I love, and that's what I trained fo.  I thought going to the Academy was a great sprinboard.

For the next few months, I lived in fear of the State Police, because I was threatened with a possible investigation by my examiner, and told I would just have to wait and see what came of it.  By this time, I was developing a true fraternity with the other members of my Academy class, and couldn't bear the thought of suddenly being expelled from the Academy, or even losing my current job, even though it had not required a polygraph as pre-employment.

Throughout the next few months, I was forced to hear stories of other officers being accused of wrong-doing, and cleared on the basis of a polygraph.  A member of the previous Academy class was expelled two weeks before graduation because he failed a poly relating to a racial slur he was alleged to have made.  We even had a block of instruction on ploygraphs from a certified examiner, who flatly stated that there were no effective counter measures, and the poly was a fool-proof instrument.  He regaled us with stories about the FBI poly course, in which you must take a poly to be admitted, and you are polyed constantly by your fellow students  as they practiced, and that it was one of the most rigorous courses you could possibly take.

I graduated the Academy on June 11, 2004, and yet my horror continued.  I had not yet received my Commission from the State Police, authorizing my officer certification.  When I called State olice HQ, they would only speak to my chief.  I found out that I was awaiting a background investigation from the local barrack of the State Police.  I had applied for my commission in November of 2003, and nobody else in my Academy class seemes to have any trouble getting theirs.

I kept my mouth shut about the failed polys to my employers, not wanting to jeopardize my job, and thinking that f the State Police wanted to investigate or arrest me, it would happen soon enough.  In December of 2004, after  several phonecalls from my chief, I was called into a barrack of an adjacent county, not the county I had recieved the poly in.  I was interviewed for about ten minutes by a trooper, who was apologetic, because he was aware that I had already been working for six months, and said that it took so long because of hold-ups at HQ, and he had only very recently received the paperwork.  I acted like I wasn't worried, even though I thought at any moment, I could go into handcuffs (I knew I had done nothing wrong, but State Troopers are very intimidating, and seem to inspire fear).  Thankfully, the poly was never mentioned in this interveiw.  And now, in February 2005,  was finally sworn in as a certified officer in the state, 15 months after applying, and I had graduated the Academy and was working for 7 months.

I feel somewhat trapped.  I don't feel like I can go into law enforcement because the failed polys will be present on my record.  I really do wish to leave and do scientific work, but in this day and age of increasing technology, even scientists working for police departments are subject to polys.  Even if I feel like I could pass one, I would never want to take another one.  I'm 23 years old, and I'm not too old to change my line of work, but I really don't want to.  I feel like I'm going to be stuck as a hospital cop forever.  We don't make arrests, we don't carry guns, we don't investigate.  So not only do I have four years of collegiate science training going to waste, but also six months of rigorous police training.

As a scientist, I have come to understand the fallacy of the polygraph, or the "guilt-detector test," as I am fond of calling it now.  I believe there is a scientific principle rooted somewhere in the poly, but no one has bothered to research this science since the poly was invented, making it illegitimate as a science at all.  The examiner prays upon the biological "fight or flight" response, which is a legitmate scientific phenomenon (which was admitted by the poly instructor in our Academy course).  However, it applies to much more in reality than just whether or not someone is lying.  Furthermore, examiners hype this response by the way they administer the tests, causing stress from the outset, and trying to amplify it.  True scientists observe pure results, they do not try to sway tests in favor of their expected outcome.

With my training and education, I had potential for a tremendous career, not only as an investigator, but with possibilities for FBI or other Federal agencies, which has now been ruined by psuedo-science.  As a scientist, I have to say that if a polygraph is not accepted by the National Academy of Sciences, then it is not worth bellieving in.  What makes me sick is the number of examiners who either know this science is bogus, or have been brainwashed, or aren't smart enough to realize the truth (unfortunately, this is nearly every cop I know).

My argument is such:  This little instrument tells you I am lying based upon physiological responses.  A lie is truly a matter of mental activity, yet I have never seen a lead on the instrument reading a person's brain patterns.  I have been denounced as not worthy by the law enforcement community based upon this single instrument, not taking into account drug screenings and backgroud investigations.  I have been determined worthless as a police officer.  Yet, look at how many people have passed polygraph tests, and have gone on to perjur themselves, falsify records, steal, and compromise national security.  How can this be an accepted form of screening?

Comments welcome, and also suggestions for what I can do with my future.  I am glad I found this community.  I no longer feel alone, or ashamed.  I look forward to coorespondence with you all in the future.

My adivce to you is don't EVER give up on your dream. I applied to multiple police agencies before getting a job offer. There was a period of time when I was about to throw the towel in. Police work is not easy to get into I think you know that allready. Depends on how bad you want it,there are states that don't poly Minn.,NJ, for example. You don't want to go through life thinking of what could have been. Give it your all, and you will find a department that will value your determination, despite of what that poly or anyone else thinks.