jpainter2728 says ...

how can they tell if your heart rate is up just from being there, and you are all sweaty that you are lieing or not.

The ones running the Polygraph are trained in what to look for on the print out, as well as your physical actions/reactions. Even without the machine, most seasoned officers can detect when a subject is not being truthful based on their body language. Have you ever seen the TV series "Lie to Me"? There's a lot of truth to that (no pun intended).

 I have a question about the polygraph. I've heard that one of the questions is "Have you ever viewed child pornography". And for me, technically that answer would be yes, even though it wasnt intentionally. What happened is, I had a girlfriend in Arizona my freshman year, when I was about 14. I moved away, and then 3 or 4 years later, she tried to get back in touch with me on facebook. At first I thought it would be fine, but then she starts sending me naked pictures of herself. I blocked her immediately, but she was under 18 at the time. (17, i think.) So technically that would be child pornography, and I did see the pictures. I have no problems with being honest about it, but I know there are very intense feelings about child pornography out there, and I dont know if I would even be given a chance to explain past "Yes." And even if there was, would I be persecuted for my answer? People arent generally very tolerant about that sort of thing. Guys sleep with 17 year old girls all the time who say they are 18, but it isnt the girls who go to jail, and judges generally dont listen past, "Yes, I did it." When I was 13 or 14 years old, I also accidentaly found a video of two very-likely underage girls playing around with a camera from a fake link on a music website. I also closed that, and am fully prepared to be honest and explain, but again, would I even be given the chance? I remember both events very clearly, because I felt/feel very bad about both of them. Would the test-giver assume I was lying? Would the two events hurt my chances of being a police officer? I really want to be a police officer, and would never view child pornography intentionally.

 Just out of curiosity....

I've only taken one poly in my life. it was not required to be an MP.

So. Back in the early 90s, while I was on patrol my barracks room got broken into. Pretty much everything I owned was stolen out of that room. I was given a polygraph to ensure I had nothing to do with the theft (I didn;t pawn my own stuff then try to make a claim)

Needless to say, I did not steal my own things, and was legitimatly burgalarized.

I took the poly and told 100% the truth about everything.

It came back as "Inconclusive"

Even though I never lied about anything.

Can anyone explain this result?

BUMP

I've passed one and then failed one a year later... Dunno why or how i failed it but i still made it into law enforcement. i think every tester is different.

BUMP