if I can't get caught why not Lie

[RHINO]

If I did a little weed in highschool but nothing more, and I know during the background check they have no way of finding out. I should be able to answer no the the drug question with out having to worry, and if I don't worry about the lie my body should not react to telling the lie right?  From what  I understand the reaction your body has to telling a lie comes from the fact that some how the truth might come out. Any thoughts?  

[rcop]

If all you did was a "little" pot in high school why would you want to lie?  That is not disqualifying.  However, if you are caught in that lie, you will never be hired as a LEO...period...no questions asked.  If your goal is law enforcement, your attitude about lying is disturbing.

[RHINO]

Don't get me wrong I don't want to lie but I hear "if you tell the truth about doing pot  you won't be accepted" and "tell the truth it is the only way the dept won't care" I was stuip when I was a teen and have matured since then, I don't want my old mistakes to mess up my life. Sure I hear ya all say if you can't do the time don't do the crime but........

[Anonymous]

RHINO,

The polygraph cannot tell whether you are lying or not. The polygraph is a grand deception designed to trick people into thinking that it's in their best interest to "fess up" so as not to be caught in a lie.

In reality, it is against one's personal interest to provide any negative information about oneself that could not otherwise be turned up in a background investigation.

What to tell, and what not to tell, is an ethical decision that you'll have to make on your own. But you should make that decision free of the delusion that the polygraph can detect lies.

As for passing the polygraph, see The Lie Behind the Lie Detector, which can be downloaded from this site.

[Marty]

What to tell, and what not to tell, is an ethical decision that you'll have to make on your own. But you should make that decision free of the delusion that the polygraph can detect lies.

Whether the polygraph can or cannot detect lies doesn't have any bearing on ethics.

-Marty