Can FBI polygraph failure ruin your career in law enforcement?

[cbob]

so taking the fbi poly. is not a good idea if you want a career in law enforcement? you are saying if I would fail the poly I would have no chance of applying to any other law enforcemnt agency that involve a poly? I would hate for the oppurtunity to work for the fbi pass me by but I dont want to ruin my career if I happen to fail the poly.
Hard decisions... do you think its a better chance to pass a poly with another agency?

[efitz_21224]

I took the FBI polygraph this year and failed (all other parts of my app were strong passing scores i.e. phase I, phase II, pft, etc.).
My interviewer was convinced that I was showing deception on the drug use section.  He simply would not believe that I had never done drugs, which I never have!  The opportunity has been there for me via friends/parties/etc., though I've never had an interest in 'getting high' or even taking a 'hit'.   I'm a fairly straight arrow, my only real 'crime' being that I ignore most posted speed limits...

I appealed, asking for another polygraph with a separate interviewer.  I was denied this request and received a letter stating that no further employment within the FBI would ever be available to me. 
To note, I've held a TS clearance for 5 years, currently work for the gov't on TS cleared work, and...have never done drugs!  I offered to take any drug test they wanted, offer any tissue, hair, bone, etc. samples to no avail.
The FBI's polygraph is not only flawed, I'm almost certain it's used as a way for them to selectively remove candidates (discriminate) based on their whims. 
As luck would have it, I did not put all my eggs in one basket and will be starting med school next year.  In hindsight, I'm very happy with how things worked out in the sense that I'll be saving lives and contributing to the general well being of mankind vs. working for an organization that uses scientifically unreliable and unethical methods to choose 'character worthy' agents.
The FBI went from an agency I was considering employment, to an agency I view as backwards , non-progressive, and non-scientific. 
The polygraph is a flawed, unreliable instrument, and the fact that the FBI bases their ultimate hiring decision on such results strongly undermines their credibility.  In short, I do not believe they (the FBI) are honest.  Come on - Robert Hanssen beat the poly for 20+ years...wake up FBI.  Don't lie to us under the guise of black box 'science' that is nothing more than subjective conjecture.
I strongly urge anyone considering employment with the FBI to pursue alternate career paths.  The opportunities in this world are endless; there's no need to waste your time with an agency so far removed from seeking the truth as the FBI.

[George W. Maschke]

efitz_21224,

I'm very sorry to read of your unfortunate experience with the FBI. My views of the organization have undergone a similar transformation in the aftermath of my FBI polygraph experience. And I don't think it can be written off as sour grapes. There really seems to be a dangerous lack of critical thinking (and a serious ethical deficit) within the Bureau. Apart from the folly of pre-employment polygraph screening and the attendant on-going injustices, there are a growing number of high-profile cases where the FBI has run roughshod over innocent persons. Look, for example, at the cases of Dr. Wen Ho Lee (who was not a spy), Abdallah Higazy (who was not a terrorist), Dr. Thomas C. Butler (who was not a bio-terrorist, and whose work has saved millions of lives), and FBI Special Agent Rita Chang (who was not a spy).

I should point out that convicted spy Robert Hanssen was never polygraphed in the course of his FBI career. It was in a knee-jerk reaction to the Hanssen case that the FBI, against the advice of its most qualified scientific expert on polygraphy, greatly expanded the polygraph screening of currently serving FBI employees (like the hapless Rita Chang). Since that time, the polygraph has failed to catch any spies in the FBI. The only FBI spy convicted since then is Leandro Aragoncillo, who presumably passed his FBI pre-employment polygraph despite the fact that he had begun spying against the United States while serving as a marine detailed to the Office of the Vice President of the United States, well before his application for FBI employment.