many police know polygraphs are worthless

[lincoln]

It seems to me that many police officers I speak with know that polygraph exams are garbage because of their unreliability.  Knowing this I wonder why so many departments rely on them when used in hiring new recruits.  I had a friend of mine who is a police officer who works for recruitment in his dept. tell me that if I follow through with a lawsuit against my false positive,  there will be many cops in that same dept. that will encourage and silently support me.  The more I talk to cops about the polygraph issue the more it seems that its a big crap shoot whether one passes or not.  I wish the fine people in the background and human resources departments could see this.

[Fred F.]

It seems to me that many police officers I speak with know that polygraph exams are garbage because of their unreliability.  Knowing this I wonder why so many departments rely on them when used in hiring new recruits.

Lincoln,

Well stated. Many deputies that I work with have had similiar experiences. They had to do their preemployment processing several times because of failing the polygraph. They rely on the polygraph because most LE agencies don't have the resources to send BI's into the streets to actually perform a "true investigation". The thing that I find ironic is that you may face the same polygrapher again, he knows you didn't pass before( unless, of course, you don't tell) and then he deems you NDI, and you answered the questions the exact same way every time.

The more I talk to cops about the polygraph issue the more it seems that its a big crap shoot whether one passes or not

They tell you that because it has happened to them as I said above. However, once you are a sworn LEO, except for the Feds( I could be wrong here) you cannot be polygraphed for any actions that occurred on duty.

Its a crap shoot because the polygraphers have you sign a release of liability before the "test". This gives them carte blanche to manipulate the outcome without fear of reprisal.

How do you thing ole J. Edgar would have done on a "lifestyle poly"

Fred F.

[George W. Maschke]

Fred,

J. Edgar Hoover would have had nothing to fear from a lifestyle polygraph: heads of federal agencies do not fail the polygraph. On the contrary, in such a situation, it would be the polygrapher, and not the agency head, who would be most in fear of losing his job.

[Fred F.]

Fred,

J. Edgar Hoover would have had nothing to fear from a lifestyle polygraph: heads of federal agencies do not fail the polygraph. On the contrary, in such a situation, it would be the polygrapher, and not the agency head, who would be most in fear of losing his job.

George,

You are absolutely correct! J. Edgar would have never been subjected to a polygraph test. It is also ironice that our National leaders will allow FBI, CIA, NSA, candidates, etc to be subjected to polygraph testing when they will never do so themselves.


Fred F.