Reporter's Notebook: Here's why police use polygraphs and how they work - ABC FOX Montana
Reporter's Notebook: Here's why police use polygraphs and how they work - ABC FOX Montana |
| Reporter's Notebook: Here's why police use polygraphs and how they work - ABC FOX Montana Posted: 07 Oct 2019 01:00 AM PDT  While my recent columns have dealt with cool cars and motorcycles, now that many of those have gone into hibernation thanks to the rush of cold weather, I'll take the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity about the workings of other equipment in various fields. While writing about how law enforcement agencies are struggling to find recruits, for instance, the idea of taking a polygraph test as part of the pre-employment screening for the Twin Falls Police Department intrigued me. That led to a sit-down meeting with Chief Craig Kingsbury and Lt. Craig Stotts, both of whom have performed numerous polygraph tests over the years. Stotts has been handling the process for Twin Falls Police for the past seven years. Kingsbury started in 1999 when he worked for other agencies, though he hasn't done any polygraphs since he took over as chief about four years ago. The training involved in becoming a qualified polygraph examiner is extensive; there's a 10-week course, and it's expensive. The tests are computerized now, with no paper read-out, as is often seen on television. "It's not like on TV," Stotts said. He acknowledged there are a lot of misconceptions about polygraph tests, including the alternate title "lie detector." "It really isn't a lie detector," Stotts explained. "It's a physiological monitor and recording device." What that means, basically, is that the instrument and the various sensors connected to the subject's body monitor reactions to questions via breathing, blood pressure, body motion, pulse and even perspiration. In the case of Twin Falls Police pre-employment polygraph tests, Stotts related how he can spend two or more hours preparing the applicant for a 10-minute test. "Everybody who comes in for a polygraph is nervous," Stotts said. I was no exception. Even though I had nothing on the line, such as a prospective job or a criminal case, when Stotts got me in the rather small room where a laptop computer with specialized software is hooked up to the instrument, I could feel my heart pounding. The chair, which might be found at any office desk or conference table, reminded me of an electric chair, with the wires and devices. Being naturally a squirmy sort when sitting anywhere, when Stotts told me one of the keys is to be still during the polygraph, I cringed. A rectangular pad on the chair's seat would sense if I tensed my gluteal muscles, or even wiggled my toes. Two gold-plated bands were secured with Velcro to my right index and ring fingers, with a pulse monitor on my middle finger. On my left arm, a blood pressure cuff was secured and partially inflated. Two hoses were wrapped around my torso with chains, one across my chest and the other around my midsection. Stott demonstrated how if I took a deep breath or held my breath, the software would show it on the computer screen. The practice test he gave is meant to determine whether a subject's physiological system is able to be tested. By forcing a reaction, the polygraph examiner can get an idea of what that reaction will be by watching the multi-colored lines move across the screen. Stott said that when doing the practice test, some people's reactions don't lend to performing the test. As for me, I was a good subject. The polygraph test itself gives the police the most accurate results available. "We only use the tests that have been validated," Stott said. For Kingsbury, applicants wishing to become police officers need to be honest in answering the questions. "The number one thing I'm looking for is integrity," Kingsbury said. Stotts agreed. "Everybody lies." It's just vital not to lie taking the polygraph test. There are other types of polygraph tests, Stott said. In criminal cases, a specific issue test could be given, where a subject is asked certain questions, perhaps multiple times, to confirm statements given about criminal activities. Stott performs some of those, for both Twin Falls Police and other area agencies. "We help out our partners all over the place." Both Stott and Kingsbury have stories to tell about their experiences administering polygraph exams during the pre-employment screening. Kingsbury, for example, recalled a police candidate while he worked in Nampa about 15 years ago. A high school teacher and former college athlete, the individual failed to be truthful about thefts from his second job. Stotts told of a candidate who had been stealing from the business where he worked and from his fellow employees. "These are things you would never know without the polygraph," Stotts said. "It scares me as a police chief that some departments don't use this tool," Kingsbury said about those agencies that don't use a polygraph as part of pre-employment screening. He added, "With public trust being what it is today, we can't hire someone and have something come up later."  |
| Russia Was Behind Giuliani's Invitation to Armenia - Polygraph.info Posted: 07 Oct 2019 10:52 AM PDT On September 27, the Washington Post reported on the scheduled appearance of Rudolf Guiliani, U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, at the Eurasia Economic Union forum in Yerevan, Armenia. The report said Guiliani canceled his participation after learning that Russia was behind the event. On September 30, the day of Giuliani's scheduled speech, his name was still listed on the agenda handed out to the press. According to journalists attending the conference, no explanation was given regarding the change of the agenda. The Kremlin claimed on September 30 that Russia had nothing to do with Giuliani's invitation. "The Russian side knows nothing about Giuliani's participation, [or] the cancellation of his participation," President Vladimir Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said. That claim is false. Neil Hauer, a journalist and security analyst based in Yerevan, Armenia, told Polygraph.info that the Armenian Foreign Ministry had told him it was not involved in inviting Rudy Giuliani. "The Armenian MFA told me they could not provide any information on Giuliani since his invitation was not sent through their official channels, so it must have come from someone else," Hauer said. Evidence suggests that the Giuliani invitation came from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), which is headquartered in Moscow.  Sergey Glazyev The panel on which Guiliani was scheduled to appear was moderated by Sergey Glazyev, who was an adviser to Putin from 2012 through last month. Glazyev became a candidate for a top position at the Eurasia Economic Commission, the executive body of the Eurasian Economic Union, during the Union's August 9 summit in Kyrgyzstan, pending confirmation of the EAEU member states during the September 30 meeting in Armenia. On October 1, Russia announced Glazyev's appointment as the Eurasian Economic Commission's Minister of Integration and Macroeconomics. Sergey Glazyev is best known for his calls to cut Russia off from the Euro/Dollar zone and for the country to focus its monetary resources on domestic production. Among his books is one titled "The Last World War: The United States Start and Lose."  Glazyev also was the first to publicly question the loyalty of top Russian officials who the U.S. did not include on the so-called "Kremlin list." "From my point of view the main criterion of personnel policy in our country under conditions of 'war with America' must be landing on the American sanctions list. Those who are on it are beyond suspicion of being called an American agent. Those who are not – it is precisely them about whom I have a very big question," Glazyev said. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Glazyev in 2014 for his role of Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian Crimea peninsula and orchestrating the war in the eastern Ukraine.  The CommissionPresident Vladimir Putin's administration created the Eurasian Economic as an alternative to the European Union. The EAEU is supposed to be a fully transparent democratic organization with a rotating leadership and consensual decision-making. A closer examination of the EAEU's structure and its documents, however, reveals that the power over its management, and decision-making lies with the Eurasian Economic Commission, whose headquarters are permanently located in Moscow and to which Glazyev was appointed on October 1.  Article 18 of the Treaty of the Eurasian Economic Union, signed in October 2014 in Astana, Kazakhstan, states that the Commission is a permanent regulatory organ based in Moscow, Russia. Annex I to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union states that the Commission "provides for the conduct" of all EAEU meetings, including the forums of the Supreme Council like the one that took place in Yerevan this week and at which Guiliani was listed as a speaker. Moreover, the list of the participants, including guest speakers, is determined and approved by the Commission, which is led by people from Putin's inner circle. Thus, Peskov's claim that Russia had nothing to do with the Giuliani's invitation is false. The MoneyThe Russian government website listing government orders of goods and services, Zakupki.ru, lists hundreds of orders tied to the Eurasian Economic Union. Among the most current of them, for instance, is the order for the sum of 120,784,000 rubles (approx. $1,866,061.61) paid from the Russian federal budget to an unidentified contractor for "providing services in organizing … the digital agenda of the Eurasian Economic Union," placed on August 7 and completed on August 29.  The Moscow City Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations paid another 7,500,000 rubles (approx. $115,846.91) to an unidentified contractor "for providing services in organizing conference and business negotiations regarding trade and economic cooperation in the framework of the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union in Yerevan, Armenia."  The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, listed as the main sponsor of the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union in Yerevan, has provided no information regarding funds dedicated to the EAEU. The Russian newspaper Izvestia reported in July that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Eurasian Economic Commission were preparing a special program to replace supplies from abroad with EAEU-produced products worth at least $4 billion. The financial arm of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the Eurasian Development Bank, declared an investment portfolio worth $3.9 billion as of October 1, 2019.  |
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