In follow-up to David and Micheal's warnings about lie detectors, or polygraph tests, I figured people on the list might be interested in some information on the subject, much of which will consist of links:

The National Academy of Sciences release titled "Polygraph Testing Too Flawed For Security Screening" regarding it's investigation of polygraph testing: http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309084369?OpenDocument (the full text of the report can be obtained from the National Academies Press via a link at the bottom of the release)

The response of the American Polygraph Association: http://www.polygraph.org/APA%20statement%20to%20NAS.htm

It's important to note that the American Polygraph Association has been challenged many times to submit trained polygraphers to independent, scientific testing for the purpose of verifying the validity of polygraph testing. In all cases, they have refused to do so.

Anecdotal evidence (there is no scientific evidence available aside from the NAS report because the American Polygraph Association refuses to participate in scientific studies) suggests that polygraphers and polygraphs are easily lied to (returning a false negative) and that they also return false positives, especially in situations where the person being questioned is nervous, sleep deprived, or otherwise not in a normal physiological state. (A lot of anecdotal evidence and some small controlled experiments can be found at http://www.antipolygraph.org, though it's not the most balanced of web-sites.)

All this is just to say that one should not base any decision of substance on the results of a polygraph test, be they positive *or* negative results. This holds in the case of Stephen Porter as it does in every case involving a polygraph test. Let's wait until some actual evidence emerges before anyone starts passing judgment.

Ethan Jewett
the Wedge (at school in Chicago)

>the second Minneapolis police officer accused of sexually assaulting Stephen Porter has passed the lie detector test.
Tom Searles
Waconia, Twp.

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