Introduction
Polygraph is a detector that records and measures various physiological indices including respiration, blood pressure, skin conductivity and pulse while the subject is asked continuous questions as he/she answers. The belief that underprops polygraph use is that answers which are deceptive will give responses which are termed as physiological and they can only be differentiated from those which are linked with answers which are non-deceptive. Polygraph device was developed in the year 1921 by a police officer and a medical student in California. The device was listed among the greatest inventions in 2003 described as one of the inventions that have had a great impact in human life for better or worse. With the high rate of crime in the current society it is essential for the governments and security forces to create and develop other severe gadgets and devices in order to help detect any form of crime and protect the society.
Use of Polygraph in Police Work
In most of the nations polygraph device is used to interrogate criminal suspects for employment of private sector or sensitive public. However the police use polygraph examinations as an interrogation tool to suspect sand also screen employees who are new. Polygraph is also recognized as a psychophysiological detection of deception examination (PDD). The increase of growth in population, new community expansion services resistance and rates in crimes have been a great contributor to high level of case loads for enforcement of law. Therefore, the police are able to acquire productive and efficient use of their case times if they use the polygraph as an investigative tool that will eliminate those who are accused wrongfully and thus identify the guilty people
In the criminal justice agencies and professions polygraph testing has become a tool that is considered so valuable most especially in screening of pre employment. It is also evident that there is a doubt of continuous level of anxiety and fear regarding the polygraph exam by the police workers. For most people who want a job in the police force there is no other way but to take the test though a clear understanding of how the device works can go way for long on lessening stress. Polygraph has been in use for almost one hundred years and it has been of great benefit to the police force. When testing, the police or detectives believe that when a person is deceiving a slight involuntary physiological changes is experienced. If they are able to detect and have a record of these involuntary physiological changes then they catch the lie.
The polygraph examiner assists the police in checking an individual’s change in heart rate, respiration and blood pressure in order to be able to identify the deception. The police also use polygraph regularly in the criminal acts investigation as a forensic tool and in other times employ it in the employee screening. Polygraph is a very essential tool in investigation and though some courts refuse its use as the evidence most of the police departments especially in United States and Canada have not been deterred from using it.
There is a lot of skepticism that is seen to surround the polygraph validity however, the fact remains that it is still considered an efficient tool in screening of applicants of jobs in criminal justice. Regardless of the fact that the instrument can or cannot detect lies reliably, the police department cannot ignore that the examination can elicit true responses more often from the individuals who may be inclined to give deceptions during the investigation. People will more often than not avoid lying as long as they believe there is a better chance of being caught. Police investigators should be fully aware that there are two polygraph primary investigators in investigation of crime known as Interrogatory and Diagnostic. Their ultimate goal is the diagnostic application which is a successful determination of deception or the truth.
When the police are using the polygraph interrogatory strategy, they are more interested in a confession of the wrongdoing act of the person who is taken as a suspect and less concerned on the truth issue. Most of the police investigators who use this method of diagnostic polygraph are highly trained and well educated with use of unique constructed questioning techniques that effectively give scientific data analysis. Interrogatory techniques significantly use instrument of polygraph or some boxes which are non-functional with wires and lights as a prop for inducing enough fear in the suspect so that confession is the only recourse due to emotional anguish. Police use diagnostic polygraph results in courts as a form of evidence but polygraph interrogations as a confession means have been claimed to be inadmissible in court.
Polygraph examination is considered a very useful test and has thus become admissible in most states. The decision of Daubert and also recruitment of the Air force is enhancing more use of polygraph as evidence. Due to effective and new computerized evaluations and systems, the police are able to use polygraph testing more effectively and strategically. Technology has been proved to improve on the procedure’s reliability and most of the police departments in the United States have been using the polygraph testing for over twenty years now. According to the police investigators, polygraph examination is gaining more acceptances due to the changes and improved computerized technology and systems which are software driven since they make it easier to interpret results.
The police investigators also face various challenges when operating the system of polygraph. In most cases this problem arises when those carrying out the procedure lack effective and efficient knowledge due to poor training. It is only a psychopath that can manage to acquire enough control and successfully fake the examination of a polygraph and show they are not lying when they are in fact. This is why the police need to carry out a comprehensive and thorough psychological evaluation to run seamlessly with the polygraph and give the true results that the client or suspect is not a sociopath. In such cases there is the need for mutually reinforcing independent testing.
Challenges of Polygraph Examination in Police Work
Although in most cases judges believe that the polygraph machines do not give accurate results even after the police have carried out thorough screening, they sometimes allow the evidence to be used in court. What is done sometimes in order to give concrete evidence is the consultation of professional and independent polygraph examiners and also government officials by the court in pretrial meetings so as to discuss a particular case results or set of results. Most legal practitioners however agree that the polygraph device is not effective to be used as the only piece of evidence. Together with other pieces of evidence that the police might have compiled against the suspect, the evidence is taken more seriously and ends up becoming a critical element of the case that can easily bring down the party that is found to be guilty.
The police find it difficult to use polygraph examination since it is termed as a catalyst since it makes people admit to the wrongs they have done by confessing once the results of the polygraph have shown their deceit. This way, the polygraph device is claimed to force suspects to tell the truth in order for the families or couples to rebuild their lives with a clean slate.
There is importance of carrying out the polygraph tests soonest possible at the allegation’s inception. Police investigators are willing to listen when the evidence is upfront and this helps the suspect in showing their innocence than they are with games of lawyers who enforce every civil right in the test. The police who carry out polygraph examination require going through a thorough and effective training and education and this is very difficult for some. This is not a test that can be done by anybody but requires unique strategy of handling the suspect and a professional way of asking the questions and reading the expressions of the suspect as well.
Conclusion
Polygraph testing was discovered about 100 years ago and yet it is evident that it took time to be accepted in the society. Slowly by slowly due to the invention of technology and enhancement of technology as well, the act seems to become more acceptable in the society. Polygraph has been used by police investigators to prove people’s innocence and punish those who are guilty. Though it is not 100 percent accurate most states especially in the United States and Canada have adapted the examination in assisting them with trials. The polygraph testing strategy has also helped the police during their recruitment, since they are able to detect honest potential candidates for the posts. However, police claim that some suspects can lie though it is said to be a very low percentage and mostly of people who are sociopaths. It is therefore essential to carry out psychological tests before carrying out a polygraph examination on a suspect. Polygraph enables the police to detect suspects who are lying through sudden changes in their heartbeat and respiration. These are common changes which give evidence when an individual is lying due to the nervousness which would in most cases not be detected if the person was telling the truth.
References
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