Michael H. Capps

The following is then Department of Defense Polygraph Institute (DoDPI) director Michael H. Capps' letter to Professor John J. Furedy notifying him of the dissolution of DoDPI's Curriculum and Research Guidance Committee, which had advised against polygraph screening. Other members of the committee, which had been created by the previous director, the late William J. Yankee, received similar letters. The review committee members were all eminently qualified professors of psychology: John J. Furedy, William G. Iacono, Edward S. Katkin, Christopher J. Patrick, and Stephen W. Porges. They were provided with no further explanation as to the reason for DoDPI's dissolution of the committee. To download this letter as a scanned PDF file (62 kb), click here

DoDPI has a long and shameful history of rejecting scientific findings that do not support its policy goals. It forced out Dr. Sheila D. Reed, who developed the Test for Espionage and Sabotage, the polygraph screening technique used by the Departments of Defense and Energy, after she, like the members of the advisory committee, came out against polygraph screening. And when a DoDPI study suggested that innocent blacks were much more likely than innocent whites to be wrongly branded as liars by the polygraph, DoDPI covered it up.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
POLYGRAPH INSTITUTE
BUILDING 3195
FORT McCLELLAN, ALABAMA 36205-5114

May 26, 1996

Office of the Director

John J. Furedy, Ph.D.
Deptartment [sic] of Psychology
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario 81 CANADA

Dear Dr. Furedy:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for serving on the Department of Defense Curriculum and Research Guidance Committee. After reviewing the current goals and objectives of the Institute, and in consultation with our policy directors in the Pentagon, I have decided to dissolve the current committee, effective immediately. This decision in no way reflects on your contributions to the committee, but it is indicative of the changing needs of the Institute. We appreciate and thank you for the contributions you have made to the Institute.

Thank you, again, for serving on the committee. I trust that I may call on you for assistance in the future if the need arises.

Sincerely,

[signed]

Michael H. Capps
Director