Polygraphs, two

 
 
 

Vocabulary

slightly	forecast	law enforcement
reliable	majority	on edge (2)
elicit	vulnerable	party animal
verses	response	physiological
accuse	examiner	counter (2)
slew	careless	exonerate
mask	glimpse	prosecutor
vital	ultimate	demonstrate
edge	nervous	administer
stake	outcome	significant
flinch	suspect	regular basis
nil	at stake	embarrassing
guilty	deliberate	throughout
enforce	obviously	flying colors
bother	sociopath	psychopath
affect	care less	take the place of
offense	probation	hard evidence
factor	admissible	matter of time

 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Don: We’re taking a closer look into the world of lie detectors tests. The tests are useful tools for law enforcement agencies across the country.

Michelle: But of course, how reliable are the results? And can a suspect actually beat a polygraph? Our Eric Bank joins us live with the answers.

Journalist: Michelle, Don, police put suspects in the chair to take lie detectors EVERY day.

But…oftentimes we don’t necessarily know what going to turn out. Tonight we are asking, can a suspect truly beat the system?

Polygrapher: Do you think you get paid enough by Channel Six?
Employee 1: No.
Polygrapher: Do you think Scott Norvell is usually wrong about the weather?
Employee 1: No.

Journalist: Now it’s safe to say a majority of polygraphs used in law enforcement don’t question Scott’s forecasting abilities.

Nope. Those questions are far more personal, designed by polygraphers to elicit physical and psychologist responses from a vulnerable body.

Polygrapher: Are you secretly a party animal?
Employee 2: No.

Polygraph is all about risk, okay? What do I have to lose verses what is on the line for me?

Journalist: We wanted to find out how these tests work, and if suspects can beat the lie detector.

Bill Crawford is a long time polygrapher with the Kenny County Prosecutor’s Office.

Journalist: Can someone come in, take a test—and beat the polygraph?
Bill: You’re not beating the polygraph; you’re beating the examiner. Your body is still having the same physiological responses. Doing a counter-measure is not beating the polygraph.

What you’re doing is beating the examiner; you’re masking what your body is naturally doing.

Journalist: And there’s a slew of factors in each test that could affect the ultimate outcome.

Bill: Who’s the examiner? What kind of questions were they asked? What kind of information did they have before they prepared the test?

So if I asked somebody if they stole a purse out of a car, well maybe they didn’t actually steal a purse; the money was in a brown, paper bag. I never asked about the bag.

Journalist: This demonstration here in our studio is only a glimpse in a vital tool used by law enforcement in numerous cases.

Employee 2: Even seeing police driving around in their cars gets me a little on edge. So being in a police station…I’d be very nervous.

Bill: In a police situation, it’s a two-hour test. Obviously you’re going to be more nervous if you’re accused of a crime because your freedom is at stake.

Employee 1: If felt myself flinch, ever so slightly.

Bill: If we’re doing a murder case, and you might go to prison for the rest of your life, or your family is going to find out and it’s going to be embarrassing—those are going to cause the bigger reaction because you’ve got a lot of risk there.

Journalist: Now the risk factor for our employees was nil. But we still saw a significant response on the machine when one of them deliberately lied.

Bill: Did you write the number “3”?
Employee 2: No.

Journalist: Throughout his career, Crawford said he administered tests to suspects he knows were guilty. And they passed the polygraph with flying colors.

Bill: With a sociopath or psychopath, you’re not going to see a response because they’re not going to care. They could care less—what they did doesn’t bother them at all.

Journalist: Polygraphs can’t take the place of hard evidence in court which is why passing a test is not enough in exonerating a criminal.

Polygraphs are often used as evidence in many in probation and sex offense cases. Bill Crawford says that it’s only a matter of time before lie detectors are admissible on a regular basis in criminal cases.

Michelle: What do you think?
Don: What I think the key is you can sit here in the studio test them. But like they were talking about, you put somebody as a suspected criminal—in a police station—for 90 minutes or longer…I don’t know.
Michelle: Yeah. You probably get accurate readings. Pretty interesting stuff.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

   Questions

1. Who commonly uses polygraphs?

2. Most polygraph questions are personal. Yes or no?

3. Can the polygraph tell if someone is lying? Does the polygraph say when someone is lying?

4. The questions asked by an interviewer can affect the outcome. Is this true or false?

5. Is there a difference between taking a demonstration polygraph test versus taking a polygraph test in a police station when someone is accused of committing a murder?

6. Psychopaths and sociopaths have the same test results as normal people. Is this correct or wrong?

7. Can polygraph test results be used as evidence in serious criminal trials? Why or why not?
 
 
A. Are polygraphs used in your city? If yes, who uses them?

B. Have you or your colleagues or friends ever taken a polygraph test?

C. Would you like to undergo a lie detector test, for fun?

D. Would polygraph testing be useful for your company or organization?

E. What will happen in the future?