Las Vegas Metro's poly

[shadow]

Does anyone have any information about LVMPD's polygraph?  I have only heard bad reviews about it.  I have a friend who works for them and she said that their poly is b.s.  I was told from another person who works for the city of Las Vegas that LVMPD hasn't had good luck with their polygraphs.  I'm not sure what he meant by that.  I do know that their polygraph has allowed more than its share of bad apples to be hired, but I guess that could be said about any department that puts heavy emphasis on the polygraph.  The word I've heard is that they model their hiring procedures around LAPD's.  

[Mr. D]

My cousin is out there this week testing for them.  I work for a department in Utah and have tried to help my him prepare for our testing process, but he wants to be with a department with a little more action. One of our friends was dq'ed by them a little over a year ago because of his polygraph.  He has lived a very clean life and has never been in any trouble with the law.  He was very upset when it happened.                   He has since been picked up by a medium sized department in Arizona, and he is doing well.   Its really nuts how lie detector tests mess up so many peoples' lives.  I know that LVMPD does their polygraphs before any sort of background check.  I think it should be the other way around.  Better yet, take away the polygraph altogether.    

[U.S. Marine]

My friend totally stung his LVMPD polygrapher last year.  He was very worried about his exam before, and after he was bragging about it.  He is now an official LVMPD cop.  How about that.

[wondering]

My friend totally stung his LVMPD polygrapher last year.  He was very worried about his exam before, and after he was bragging about it.  He is now an official LVMPD cop.  How about that.

I see that your screen name is "U.S. Marine."  I was wondering if the Marines have the job of "Polygraph Examiner."  I have a friend of mine who says his son who is a Sergeant of some kind in the marines, does polygraphs as his job.  I just did not think they trained for that kind of job.  Does the marines believe in the polygraph?

Just wondering.  

  

[Twoblock]

Wondering

Maybe it's job training for when he gets out. Probably beats guarding the main gate.

Old Navy man

[George W. Maschke]

Wondering,

USMC Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 5822 is "Polygraph Operator."

[guest]

I took my polygraph with them just a few months ago and was told that I showed deception on the drug questions.  I've never done drugs, but apparently my examiner had a hard time believing me.  I also took and PASSED the LAPD poly a few months before my LVMPD polygraph.   I live in California, and I have talked to other people who have gone through the LVMPD testing process and I have heard other bad stories as well, not necessarily related to polygraph issues.  

[California cop]

I have heard through the police rumor mill that they are losing a lot of strong candidates from their polygraph tests.  Similar to the LAPD situation.  

[spike]

Before I go any further, I will state that I am an African-American male.  Myself and two friends all tested for LVMPD at the same time.  My two friends are white, they both scored higher and ranked higher than I did.  Neither one was hired and I was. I made admissions to my polygrapher during my exam, which was horrible, that I thought would have ruined my chances of being hired.  I really dont want to go into detail about my polygraph experience.  I do want to mention that one of my friends that tested with me was told he had big problems with theft questions on his polygraph. He obviously failed.  He was never offered a job. My other friend who I tested with was dq'ed for reasons unknown.  When I speak to my friends about the job, I feel embarrassed and even ashamed. I know that they would be good cops.  One of them has decided to stay with his current career as a paramedic. The other is planning on testing for a couple of departments this next year.  I wonder if LVMPD is giving special treatment to minorities, and  they are using polygraphs to get rid of people just to open up slots for more minorities. Again I have to state that I am a minority, so I feel I can openly say this.

[someone]

Their polygraph is a crap shoot!  The saddest part about it is that some very poor choices are being selected as new recruits because the polygraph wiped out so many more than qualified ones. People need to understand that a polygraph test truly is a role of the dice.  

[Kona]

Spike,

I seriously doubt that the LVMPD would hire you simply because you are an African-American.  You must pass through all the wickets, just like everyone else.  You must have come across very well during the entire hiring process.  Just curious, what did you admit to the polygrapher that was so terrible?  It is very possible that your friends were falsely found to be deceptive during their polygraph experience (nothing new here).  Whatever you did during your polygraph (complete honesty or countermeasures) you either did it right, or were just plain lucky (maybe both).  Be thankful that you got past that hurdle; now drive on!  Congrats!

Kona

[Twoblock]

Kona

What makes LVMPD different from other cities? Haven't you heard of the hiring quota system or are you just trying to be politically correct? Ever heard of the EEOC? A minority does not have to be qualified for a mandatory hire or promotion. Look at the city of Dallas, Tx. A Black cop, with a criminal background and failed his poly, was hired anyway. He was just fired because he continued to be a bad dude. City, County and State governments are directed to hire based on the ethnic makeup of the population.

[Spike]

Thanks for your replies.  I don't necessarily think I got hired only because I am a minority, but I definately think that it worked to my advantage.  As I stated earlier about my friends not being hired and I was. They were both much higher ranked than I was. As far as my admissions I made during my poly, I don't want to be too specific in details, but I will say that I totally confessed to having used certain drugs that I never mentioned prior to the exam.  When I made the admissions, my examiner told me not to hold my breath on EVER being hired.  He was wrong.

[Jack_T]

What you have to understand about the hiring process is that you probably weren't even competing with your two white friends. They put you in a class of other African-Americans and those are the people you were competing with. It doesn't matter that your white friends scored higher than you, because your scores weren't being compared to theirs. They compared your's to other African-Amercans only. That way they try to hire the best from every race.  

[Thomas]

I see Spike's point. I think its pretty unfair that he gets hired after he made admissions about his drug use while others get the boot because they supposedly had reactions.  I understand affirmative action and how it works, yet to me this is just wrong.  How can a department toss candidates based on their polygraph results when they are letting certain ones slide by when the junk (polygraph) exams tell them these same ones are liars.   Do they or dont they believe in these ridiculous tests?  Spike, no offense to you.