# FBI to give 2,000 police lie-detector tests



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Kevin Johnson 
USA TODAY
Copyright 2006 Gannett Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

*WASHINGTON*- The FBI will give lie-detector tests to hundreds of state and local police officers assigned to terrorism task forces across the country as part of a new effort to battle espionage and unauthorized information leaks.

FBI Assistant Director Charles Phalen said the polygraph program was launched in the past month at seven of the bureau's 56 field offices where agents are teamed with local police to investigate terrorism.
The polygraph tests are part of an ongoing security crackdown following the conviction of former FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Hanssen, whose spying activities for Russia and the former Soviet Union went undetected for 15 years. He was sentenced in 2002 to life without parole.

Up to 2,000 state and local officers could be required to submit to testing, Phalen said.

"There is no more powerful tool in our tool bag" than lie-detector tests, Phalen said.

Phalen said the FBI hopes the testing will establish "a common level of trust" within the teams of federal agents and local police and encourage a free exchange of information.

An official with the largest police union fears the program could have the opposite effect.

"This is symptomatic of the FBI's paternalistic approach to the rest of law enforcement," said Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police.

"This could lead to more tension between local law enforcement and the FBI, which has existed over the years," Pasco said. "It fosters the view that the FBI is somehow superior to local law enforcement, and that is demonstrably untrue."

None of the local officers would be exempt from the testing.

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said the program was met with some "concern" over whether the bureau would provide test results with local department officials, especially if those findings revealed "questionable conduct" by the officers.

But Hurtt said the FBI committed to sharing that information with the departments as part of what the chief said was "a reasonable approach" to securing classified information.

"It's something we need to do going forward," Hurtt said.

The FBI began requiring all new employees to submit to polygraph examinations in 1994. That program did not apply to agents and employees, including Hanssen, who were hired before that time.

Among the changes adopted after the spy scandal was a requirement that all agents submit to polygraphs and be retested every five years.

Five years after the changes were implemented, an undisclosed number of agents, analysts and other employees have yet to be given a polygraph test, Phalen acknowledged.

Phalen said the bureau has primarily focused on members of the FBI's national security division. All positions in that division, he said, have been "covered."

"We know we have not gotten everybody," the assistant director said, referring to the entire bureau. "But I believe we have the core of the people, and we continue to focus on that core."

About 90 examiners have been conducting between 7,500 and 8,000 tests per year. More than half of those examinations involve new applicants. The rest involve existing agents and other employees.

About 25% of new applicants are disqualified based on polygraphs. Phalen said only a "couple dozen" of existing employees each year register some sort of "deception" upon testing.

June 19, 2006








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## 94c (Oct 21, 2005)

maybe they should clean their own house first

F-in
B-unch of
I-diots


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## Tessa (Dec 27, 2005)

Are lie detector tests really accurate in detecting lies? I thought they were just good for providing psychological pressure to tell the truth, not for revealing whether someone is actually telling the truth. Aren't there a lot of false positives, especially when the person taking the test feels anxiety with regards to the question being asked (not necessarily due to lying)?


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## Pinkos307 (Jun 30, 2003)

94c said:


> maybe they should clean their own house first
> 
> F-in
> B-unch of
> I-diots


I wouldn't say that...they caught one of your own red handed

M...any
S...ick
P...edophiles


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## sdb29 (Jul 17, 2002)

Where's ******?


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## bbelichick (Aug 25, 2002)

Pinkos307 said:


> I wouldn't say that...they caught one of your own red handed
> 
> M...any
> S...ick
> P...edophiles


That's some mighty fine Police work...except 94c isn't a Trooper.

Dope.


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## dcs2244 (Jan 29, 2004)

FBI: Pinkerton's with delusions of grandeur...and guns.

Clue: they are lawyers and certified public accountants. The cops that are employed there are not cops, but anal paper chasers.


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## 94c (Oct 21, 2005)

Pinkos307 said:


> I wouldn't say that...they caught one of your own red handed
> 
> M...any
> S...ick
> P...edophiles


I am not MSP. I also don't think that a Federal Security Guard is in any position to defend the FBI. (They would never allow someone of your lowly stature into their circle.)


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## Guest (Jun 20, 2006)

Can we give polygraph tests to the FBI Agents we have to work with? You know, the common level of trust thing.....


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## SGT_GRUNT_USMC (May 31, 2004)

kwflatbed said:


> The polygraph tests are part of an ongoing security crackdown following the conviction of former FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Hanssen, whose spying activities for Russia and the former Soviet Union went undetected for 15 years. He was sentenced in 2002 to life without parole.
> 
> Up to 2,000 state and local officers could be required to submit to testing, Phalen said.


So an FBI agent was a traitor, but they want to poly local and state officers? My agency already polygraphs all new police recruit applicants and has detectives from our Homeland Security Bureau assigned to the FBI-Metro Police Joint Terrorism Task Force.The polygraph is just an investigative tool, not the end all of law enforcement.
It never ceases to amaze me how the FBI (and some other fed agencies) always assumes it is better, has more integrity and is better trained than local and state law enforcement,despite the fact that many local and state agencies have higher standards and better training than the feebes.I'm not knocking the FBI, they have their place,but it is the locals that develop over 90% of the leads in any case and are the first responders to crime, not the FBI.


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## lofu (Feb 25, 2006)

I think the FBI should worry about cleaning up their own disasters of the last few years before they start coming into our houses and testing us.


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## PBC FL Cop (Oct 22, 2003)

F - Famous
B - But
I - Incompetent


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## Irish Wampanoag (Apr 6, 2003)

dcs2244 said:


> FBI: Pinkerton's with delusions of grandeur...and guns.
> 
> Clue: they are lawyers and certified public accountants. The cops that are employed there are not cops, but anal paper chasers.


Yup!!

F.B.I. stands for:

Fuckup

Basic

Investigations


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