NCJ Number
238545
Journal
Polygraph Volume: 41 Issue: 1 Dated: 2012 Pages: 54-60
Date Published
2012
Length
7 pages
Annotation
After presenting a case study of the pre-employment polygraph examination of a person applying to become a Border Control Agent, this article discusses the lessons learned from this case, which pertained to admissions of drug possession, use, and sales in the pre-test interview and expanded upon in the polygraph exam.
Abstract
The lessons learned pertain to the importance of not forming any judgments about an examinee based on his/her dress, cordial and respectful mannerisms, and cooperative behavior. Such persons may also provide admissions against self-interest before the exam is conducted. This case reminds examiners that a routine pre-employment exam, even when first impressions of the subject are positive, can expose unexpected information about the subject's past and current behavior. Examiners must keep digging for truthful statements, since the examinee's first admission rarely reveals everything about the person. In the current case, the examinee was initially withholding information about his illegal drug use. One of the examinee's intentions was to diminish his response to relevant questions to which he intended to lie. He believed that using mescaline for its alleged calming effects may have seemed the best way of circumventing the polygraph test. In fact, the chemistry of mescaline and the drug's effects on the user's physiology rendered his efforts useless in defeating the polygraph. 4 figures of the polygraph charts