posted 01-22-2008 09:05 AM            

A measure of truth
1/21/2008 2:41:34 PM
Daily Journal

By Danza Johnson
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Cheating a polygraph test is easier said than done.

After being hooked up to the polygraph and asked to answer a simple question, which I failed, this reporter is a believer that the Law and Order version of taking a polygraph test is nothing like the real deal.

Deputy State Fire Marshal and licensed polygraph examiner Mike Ivy has been administering criminal specific polygraph tests for the state and Lee County for more than seven years. Ivy said in real life, a polygraph test can’t be done before the commercial break.

“It is nothing like it is portrayed on television,” said Ivy. “You just don’t sit down and fire questions at an unsuspecting suspect and the results come in to tell you whether a person is lying or not. One test takes about two hours and the suspect knows exactly what’s going on.”

In fact, Ivy said it is procedure to go over the questions and how the test works with the suspect before they are hooked up to the polygraph. And it doesn’t actually record lies, according to Ivy, but it records physiological data that can determine weather a person is being honest or not.

“We monitor blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration and the opening and closing of the sweat glands,” said Ivy. “You can’t turn these things on and off when you want to, so when you are not telling the truth, those areas will increase.”

After doing some Internet research on how to beat the polygraph test, I thought I had it all figured out. A list of counter measures like contracting of the sphincter muscles to cause yourself pain was supposed to be an easy way to throw the test off. Ivy agreed that causing pain to yourself would indeed throw the test off – that is if a sensitivity pad wasn’t recording your every move. That plan failed.

After the machine caught me in a simple lie, I was convinced of its accuracy.

Even though Ivy said the polygraph test is very accurate, it’s not perfect and that’s one reason they aren’t admissible in court, according to Jerry Crocker, Lee County investigator for the District Attorney’s office. Crocker is also a licensed polygraph examiner.

“If it were 100 percent we wouldn’t need trials or juries,” said Crocker. “The machine puts out the data, but people read, and whenever you’re dealing with people there is a chance for error.”

There biggest use is helping to investigate crimes, according to Ivy. He said the test can help investigators rule out witnesses and things to that nature on the investigative side.