Polygraph Countermeasure Testimonial

[Sergeant1107]

Blaming this site in the event a criminal "beats" a polygraph and goes free is pretty weak.

It is the job of the police to locate and collect evidence that will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect is the one who committed the crime. They must be prepared to do that without a confession and without any information from the suspect.  A confession or other information is all you could ever get from a polygraph.

The Fifth Amendment grants the suspect the right to never say a word in his own defense; he is not compelled to speak during the investigation or even during his trial.  He does not need to offer an alibi or state his innocence; the law states that he is presumed innocent until the state proves he is guilty.  If your case is based on bringing the suspect into the interrogation room or the polygraph room and extracting a confession from him, then you don't have much of a case to begin with.  Would it make my job easier if everyone who ever committed a crime came to the PD and voluntarily confessed?  Sure, but even if they don't I still have a job to do.  I certainly shouldn't expect even a single person to assist me in my investigation by providing a confession or other pertinent information.

For all the people who would blame this site, would you also blame the suspect's attorney who advises him not to talk, or to talk about one subject but not another?  The attorney is also thwarting police efforts to trick the suspect into a confession, so is he being irresponsible?  If the attorney advises his client to go ahead with the interrogation but to refuse to answer specific questions, or if he warns him about what the interrogators will be looking for to see if he's being truthful or not, is the attorney acting irresponsibly?  I certainly wouldn't think so, because it's my job to gather evidence without the shortcut of a suspect's confession.

Confessions usually make our job easier.  But we should never count on them, and we should never get upset at anyone who counsels suspects not to be so stupid as to confess to the police.  Cops who "hate" defense attorneys for their advice not to make a statement are immature, in my opinion.  Same would hold true for anyone who "hates" the anti-polygraph community for their advice on how not to take or how to beat a polygraph.

[polyscam]

Spark,

You are giving all appearances of having difficulties, not with this site, but our constitution.  Our constitution applies to all, including those suspected of criminal acts.  Our constitution also provides for freedom of speech among other topics.  Perhaps you would like to return to years past when other accepted behaviors now considered unacceptable where the norm.  Maybe we could have some McCarthy-like hearings for those that verbalize their disdain for polygraphy.  Maybe you could lynch us.

Let's just do away with investigation all together and utilize polygraphy to convict or vindicate all criminal suspects.  If that were to occur, I will let you know that I will be laughing my head off as you go to prison for an act you did not commit but were convicted of by the merits of polygraph.  Not such a good idea is it?