HELP!!!!!!

[helpus]

I am the a Union Rep for a Souhtweast Texas law enforcement agency, I represent about 1130 sworn officers. We have a new Chief with a new toy (polygraph) We have lost ten officers either forced resignations or terminations with the toy. How can I make this tool of satan go away.

[George W. Maschke]

1. As a first step, educate your members about the polygraph. We have a free book titled The Lie Behind the Lie Detector that everyone who could potentially be ordered to submit to a polygraph "test" should have. It exposes the trickery (not science) on which polygraphy actually depends, and explains how to protect oneself against the risk of a false positive outcome. The Lie Behind the Lie Detector may be downloaded here:

http://antipolygraph.org/lie-behind-the-lie-detector.pdf

You are welcome to either link to or add a copy directly on your union website. We also have a series of ready-to-print posters, some of which might be helpful in spreading the word:

http://antipolygraph.org/posters.shtml

2. Who (besides your new chief) has the power to stop the polygraph? Is there a board of police commissioners that has this power? A city council? The mayor? Your union should lobby these people. Let them know that the polygraph is junk science and that using polygraph results to end careers is morally wrong.

3. Talk to the media about this problem. Seek interviews with televesion and radio news programs. This might also be a topic of interest for local radio talk shows. Contact hosts and tell them about the injustice that's being perpetrated within your agency.

You should also contact your local newspapers about this polygraph abuse. Provide contacts who are willing to speak on-the-record (that is, using their real names). If there are others who are willing to speak but can only do so on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, provide contact information for them, too.

AntiPolygraph.org would be happy to grant interviews to any of the media sources you contact. They should send inquiries to info@antipolygraph.org or leave a voice mail message at (206) 338-4466.

Public awareness brought about by media coverage will help to make it easier for those with the power to stop the polygraphing of your union members to take action.

4. At the state level, contact your legislators and seek their support for a bill to ban workplace polygraph testing statewide. It would be helpful if you were to coordinate this effort with other law enforcement unions in Texas. Minnesota's antipolygraph statute is a good model for other states to follow. You'll find the full text of this law in Appendix E of The Lie Behind the Lie Detector.

5. Compare notes with other law enforcement unions that have taken a public stance against polygraphy. For example:

• Missouri Union of Law Enforcement. MULE 57 is a police officers' benevolent association that opposes polygraph "testing." The MULE site includes a form which members have designed to protect officers that are forced to submit to polygraph "exams."
  
• Virginia Coalition of Police and Deputy Sheriffs. The Virginia COPS organization is working hard on the state level to prevent police officers from being forced into submitting to polygraphs. Their site has a page condemning polygraphy.