Sergeant1107 wrote on Jul 13
th, 2005 at 4:13pm:
Nonombre,
From your past posts you certainly don’t seem like one of those mindlessly hostile polygraphers, but rather a reasoned and articulate one. Given that, I presume you’ve not only cruised the message boards on this site but also downloaded TLBTLD and read it. Either way you must be familiar with the ideology of many of the anti-polygraphy people in that they feel the only way to pass, even when being 100% truthful, is to use countermeasures.
Accusations of purposeful deception directed at anyone suspected of using countermeasures, when you know that is not necessarily the case, seem like an unethically expedient thing to do for a profession that is “Dedicated to Truth.”
Sergeant,
Allow me to reiterate that when I brought up how some departments and agencies define countermeasures, I was simply reporting a commonly used (and very traditional) definition. I was making no statements about my own personal beliefs. Still that definition is very much out there and it is based on that definition that certain examiners and their agencies will immediately brand the examinees attempting countermeasures as "Deceptive."
An interesting point to consider is before web sites like this was out thee, I would guess that the VAST majority of examinees attempting countermeasures were in fact guilty people trying to "beat" the test. In fact, I still believe that most of the examinees attempting CM's, are indeed doing so because they fear being caught in a lie.
However, I also realize that because of this site and others that actively encourage truthful people to engage in countermeasures, the dynamic has indeed changed a bit. Therein lies the point I am about to make.
Based on what I have seen thus far, I fear there are a significant number of people who following the advice of this website, have gone into a polygraph exam and practiced countermeasures unnecessarily.
Perhaps in some cases, their activities have "helped" them in some way (although I tend to doubt it). But who I am truly concerned about are the truthful people, who based on what they have been told on this site, have practiced countermeasures, have gotten caught, and whether they ultimately owned up to them or not, have found themselves immediately disqualified from a job they otherwise would have gotten (or worse).
Now I know you or someone else will immediately counter with "What about all those people who went into the polygraph, told the truth, and were called "deceptive."
As I have said many times, I know there is a false positive rate (I too have read the research). That is why I strongly push a "point system." that treats ALL the subjective portions of the police applicant process equally. Under a point system, an applicant can completely blow virtually any portion of the process (including the polygraph) and still get the job.
Food for thought
Nonombre