I am sure all of you have been reading with interest the recent arrest of a veteran FBI agent who was caught spying for the Russians. This episode has re-ignited the controversy of polygraph examinations. Uninformed people, particularly on the Hill, are calling for an increase use because Hanssen was never polygraphed during his tenure. Obviously, we cannot allow this to happen.
We need everyone to draft letters to your Congressional representatives (Congressman and 2 Senators) about this issue. If you are willing to do so, please contact me at ZaidMS@aol.com for talking points.
This is very important! Thanks.
Mark is absolutely right: now is a critical time for the future of U.S. polygraph policy. We must take advantage of this time when polygraphy is in the national spotlight to help expose it for the fraud that it is.
In addition to writing your elected officials, write letters to the editors of your local and national newspapers. Most reporting on polygraphy in the wake of the Hanssen spy case has uncritically accepted the premise that "polygraphs = security."
It would be especially helpful to write to the editors of major national papers like the
Washington Post, the
Washington Times, and the
New York Times. Letters that comment on their stories are more likely to be published. See the AntiPolygraph.org news page (http://antipolygraph.org/news.shtml) for links to recent articles about polygraph policy. And be sure to include your name, address, and daytime phone number for confirmation purposes so that your letter can be published (even if you request that your name be withheld).
You can send letters to the editors of most newspapers by e-mail. The e-mail addresses for letters to the editors of the above-cited newspapers are:
- The Washington Post: letters@washpost.com
- The Washington Times: letters@washtimes.com
- The New York Times: letters@nytimes.com
Last modification: George Maschke - 02/22/01 at 17:39:12
I was wondering if a form letter would be made available here for persons who are not interested in law enforcement/military. But, that are concerned about the issue of polygraphs and to what extent they are being used. Or maybe for persons in law enforcement that have never had to take a polygraph. These were groups of people that I thought would also be interested in our effort.
Distrustful,
The reason that most of our efforts are geared toward law enforcement/military/intelligence positions is because these employees/applicants comprise the majority of people who can still be "tested" under current US law. Nearly everyone else (employees of private firms, criminal suspects, etc) already has the right to refuse to be polygraphed and suffer no adverse consequences on the basis of this refusal alone.
Nonetheless, feel free to e-mail me any specific ideas you might have for such a letter (or better yet, a complete model letter). We will be happy to consider it for posting on the site.
For those who submitted letters to congressional representatives, please let me know what, if any, responses you received, and particularly whether a staff contact name was provided. If you have not received a response within 30 days of sending the initial letter, please call your Congressman/Senator. You might also send an updated letter to the relevant members of the House and Sentate Intelligence and Judiciary Committtees. As always, do not hesitate to contact me with questions at ZaidMS@aol.com
I know I am several years late on this topic, but I am planning on writing to my local representsative concerning he use of ploygraphs. I am currently in the hiring process with 3 differeny agencies. Is there much likelyhood that info of me writing a letter like this could get to the wrong people?
-Smokey
George:
Why do you think the three newpapers you mentioned are more likley to publish selected stories?
Quote from: retcopper on Feb 13, 2006, 01:06 PMGeorge:
Why do you think the three newpapers you mentioned are more likley to publish selected stories?
Retcopper,
Why are you here? Why do you come to this message board at all?
You obviously disagree with George and everyone else who is against the use of the polygraph. However, all you bring with you is apparently a willingness to throw out a random, brief, unsupported comment here and there which contributes nothing to the ongoing discussion.
If there was a website full of people I did not agree with I couldn't imagine spending my time there just to post the intellectual equivalent of "Oh yeah?" and "How do you know?"
Quote from: Sergeant1107 on Feb 13, 2006, 10:09 PM
Retcopper,
If there was a website full of people I did not agree with I couldn't imagine spending my time there just to post the intellectual equivalent of "Oh yeah?" and "How do you know?"
Unless they are trolls
I come here to get amused at some of the writings in here. It is particularly funny to see how much bad advice is being given to some of the people who have done something wrong and are trying to beat the test.
Why debate polygraph with you? Are you an examiner? Most of the people in here have their minds made up anyway. Try to debate you and others and you come back with flippant remarks.
retcopper
On another thread, Dr. Drew Richardson (a well known polygrapher) issued you an opportunity to debate. Evidently you figure that you don't have the educational background to debate him because you haven't answered it yet. That was just another flippant remark from you, huh?