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The Relevant Issue
http://www.polygraphplace.com
Issue #126 - July 24, 2005
Relevant Issue Archives:
http://www.polygraphplace.com/articles
____________________________________________________________
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. EDITORIAL: "What advertising techniques have worked
for me" by Charles Lynch.
2. TECHNOLOGY UPDATE:
"New StingRaySE piezo film cushion
from Limestone Technologies"
3. IN THE FORUMS:
PUBLIC FORUM: "Is there any information regarding the
impact or reliability of a polygraph test, when it is
administered to a person who has an medical device
implanted for pain control. This device produces an
electrical impulse to the nerves in both arms down to
the finger tips."
EXAMINERS ONLY FORUM: "...She reported she had been
diagnosed (not recently) with acute clinical depression
and took drugs for that, but was not seeing any
psychologist or psychiatrist for the continuing
disorder...what are your thoughts on whether this test
could or even should have been conducted?"
There are now 164 examiners registered & approved
to
use the private forum. How about you?
4. FEATURE ARTICLE: "The PSP/HACC at NCTC, also
known as
'that free polygraph school' in Pennsylvania"
5. UPCOMING SEMINARS: Is your state association having
a seminar anytime in the year 2005/2006?
Please send me the details so we can let everyone
know.
TRI STATE (KS,MO,NE) POLYGRAPH Aug/Sept 2005
SOUTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION September 2005
NEW JERSEY POLYGRAPHISTS September 2005
MISSISSIPPI ASSOCIATION September 2005
MIDWEST REGIONAL POLYGRAPH September 2005
COLORADO POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION October 2005
ALABAMA POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION Oct/Nov 2005
____________________________________________________________
1. EDITORIAL: "What advertising techniques have worked
for me" by Charles Lynch.
I received this letter a couple of weeks ago and I'm
not hesitant to admit that it displays the Polygraph
Place in a very positive light. I'm very proud that
we have been able to provide affordable and effective
advertising options to the Polygraph Community. But
enough of that...I'll let Chuck tell his story.
Dear Fellow Polygraph Examiner:
(Disclaimer: I am writing this information to my fellow
examiners because it is the truth about my personal
findings. No one has asked me to write this nor am I
receiving any preferential treatment for doing so.
This is my gift from me to you for the betterment of
the polygraph profession and your bank account.)
If you advertise through the Polygraph Place as I have
since the infancy days of this very valuable web site,
you may wonder if it pays a dividend. If you advertise
in the yellow pages of your local city telephone book,
by now you should have had a stroke from the sticker
shock from even the most basic yellow page advertising.
The bad part of yellow page advertising is the narrow
and confined geographical coverage you get for your
advertising dollar. Still, advertising with the
Polygraph Place, an examiner may not know just how much
business the various types of advertising deliver.
Are the calls directly from the Polygraph Place? Are
they from a personal website? Are the leads from word
of mouth from a referral client you satisfied with your
skills and customer service? Or could it be from your
local police or sheriff's office if you are in good
standing with one of them.
One thing I do is I always ask the client, How did you
find me? How did you know to call me? I keep a very
detailed Microsoft Excel Spread Sheet with many columns
of information I feel I need for each polygraph
examination. This spread sheet is easy to set up if you
know someone who knows the program. They can get you
going in a few minutes with even the most basic data
collections and you need to know only three formulas
for adding and tracking your required columns to get
totals of information you personally need.
One very valuable bit of data is the monthly gross
intake of fees and a cumulative to date of total gross
fees for your services.
The most important thing I did besides doing some
geographical city listings in the Polygraph Place was
to get Ralph Hilliard (Owner of the Polygraph Place) to
create for me a website (Currently in it's Third
Iteration) On the website, I included my credentials,
training, fee ranges and other bits of information
and FAQ's a person might need when looking for a
polygraph examiner.
I always wondered what paid off the most in my Polygraph
Place advertising choices. Last fall when I subscribed
to the Urchin 5 Tracking Program offered by the
Polygraph Place, it told me how many hits(on my website)
I got per hour, per day, per week, per month and per year.
I found one thing that surprised me was I have more
people visiting my website from 9PM to 3AM each day then
any other time of day. I matched that data to the time
on many of the E-mail's I get and noticed they were sent
very late at night to very early in the morning.
I also wondered how much I was getting for my money paid
to subscribe to Urchin 5 and my other advertising and was
very pleased. I began computing my costs on these fees:
One time website construction fee,
Annual website hosting fee - $240
Annual domain name fee - $25
Annual $25.00 fee for each city listing per year on the
polygraphplace.com
I then did a five year cost analysis because that is
how
long I have had a website and city listings with the
Polygraph Place.
I was shocked as to how for pennies a day I could reach
X number of people who visited my website per hour, per
day, per week and per year by using Urchin 5 to provide
me with the amount of traffic I had visiting my web site.
To say the least, my advertising investment has been
consistently profitable.
According to my analysis, this traffic to the website
began when the visitor would first go to the city listing
in the Polygraph Place geographical city listings data
base. I found out another surprise. When I registered
enough cities and use either the 50 mile or 100 mile
radius zip code driven data base, I found more people
use that feature when searching than they do clicking
on all the individual cities manually listed on the site
(The Polygraph Place has several methods for the visitor
to search in the manner they feel most comfortable)
Now, I have shared a lot of information with Ralph
Hilliard over the years and gave him permission to
convey this information for successful advertising to
others. Some say imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery and believe me I have been flattered a lot over
the years being the first to do many things a lot of
examiners are now doing in their states.
Not all polygraph examiners have been successful using
this good information. The reason I have found they were
not successful using my formula was their level of
training and knowledge prevented them from conveying a
sense of professionalism, confidence and knowledge of
polygraph to the inquiring customer.
Another big reason is customer relations and personality
of the individual polygraph examiner. Most all of us
came from law enforcement and the military. Many of us
have been unable to conform to just a plain John Q.
Citizen businessman and still convey that "Cop"
personality or that military "CID" or military
"intelligence" personality we developed in our jobs
before we became private examiners.
People do not like to talk with the "Joe Friday's"
"just
the facts mam" personalities and you mostly men have to
learn how to retrain yourself to a civilian world because
you are being asked to help "the otherside of the
courtroom" now or a private citizen not sure of
themselves who need a personal polygraph and are scared
off by that "cop" mentality.
I know it, I have been their and done that and I know
I
suffered from not adapting quick enough to the civilian
world from my "cops" world quick enough.
Just some friendly advice from me to you to help us all
be successful polygraph examiners and that will in turn
make the profession of polygraph have a better image.
Charles Lynch
http://www.carolinavirginiapolygraph.com
(Don't have a listing yet? Receive leads for polygraph
tests all year long for a measley $25! Sign up today!
http://www.polygraphplace.com/docs/listingsinfo.htm
____________________________________________________________
2. TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: "New StingRaySE piezo film cushion
from Limestone Technologies"
Limestone Technologies Inc. is well-known known for
bringing a welcome burst of innovation to the polygraph
paradigm. Its Polygraph Professional Suite™ instrument
led the way with such innovations as digital recording
of audio and video that is time-aligned with physiological
readings. Its true 8-channel, 16-bit data acquisition
instrument have made EDA non-responders a thing of the
past.
Now the Company is taking another step forward with its
introduction of the StingRaySE™ piezo film countermeasure
cushion. The new cushion marks a vast improvement over
ceramic piezo models.
“We took the time to carefully investigate all
options to
deliver a superior piezo cushion for examiners,” says
Jamie Brown, President of Limestone Technologies Inc.
“That is why we rejected using the ceramic piezo that
others are offering and chose the more robust piezo film
technology.”
Compared to ceramic version, the piezo film has low
density, excellent sensitivity and is mechanically tough.
The compliance of piezo film is 10 times greater than the
compliance of ceramics. The Company’s research revealed
that by using piezo film instead of ceramics, examiners
would have less frequent problems that are associated with
the more fragile ceramic piezo technology.
With the introduction of its new piezo film cushion,
the
Company becomes the only polygraph instrument manufacturer
to enable examiners to use both pneumatic and piezo
countermeasure cushions simultaneously on two different
channels.
The new Piezo cushion follows earlier developments that
defined the Company as a market leader. These include:
• Unbeatable CD authoring tools
• The exclusive ability to record and display automatic
and manual EDA simultaneously on separate channels
• A StingRay Lite™ pneumatic countermeasure cushion
included in every purchase
• Both silver/silver wet gel and traditional stainless
steel EDA leads are included in every purchase
• Exclusively supports digital stimulus presentation.
It’s the perfect solution for professionals using
the guilty knowledge test paradigm (GKT) or concealed
information test (CIT)
• Guaranteed lifetime fixes of any software problems.
• Discounted pricing for polygraph schools, students
and agencies
“Our goal is to employ innovation in order to give
examiners a range of options in their work,” Brown says.
“We want to be the Swiss army knife of polygraph
instruments.”
Blair MacLean
Customer Relations
http://www.limestonetech.com
info@limestontech.com
____________________________________________________________
3. IN THE FORUMS:
*** PUBLIC FORUM ***
"Is there any information regarding the impact or
reliability of a polygraph test, when it is
administered to a person who has an medical device
implanted for pain control. This device produces an
electrical impulse to the nerves in both arms down to
the finger tips."
http://www.polygraphplace.com/ubb/NonCGI/Forum1/HTML/000330.html
*** EXAMINERS ONLY FORUM ***
"...She reported she had been diagnosed (not recently)
with acute clinical depression and took drugs for that,
but was not seeing any psychologist or psychiatrist for
the continuing disorder...what are your thoughts on
whether this test could or even should have been
conducted?"
To read and respond on this topic, you must have
registered and specifically requested access to the
private part of this forum.
You MUST read AND complete the requirements for joining
this private forum here:
http://www.polygraphplace.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi
Just scroll to the bottom and READ ALL THE DIRECTIONS
under the heading...
*** Polygraph Professionals only - A PRIVATE Forum ***
_____________________________________________________________
4. FEATURE ARTICLE: "The PSP/HACC at NCTC, also known as
'that free polygraph school' in Pennsylvania"
EDITOR'S NOTE: A few months ago, we published a copy
of
a letter that had derogatory comments against the school
run by Elmer Criswell. I asked Elmer to help clear this
up by running an article explaining exactly what his
polygraph school is and is not. The following article is
Elmer's response to my request.
The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP)/Harrisburg Area
Community College (HACC) Polygraph Institute at the
Northeast Counterdrug Training Center (NCTC), which is
located in Annville, Pennsylvania, (20 miles northeast of
Harrisburg) on the Pennsylvania National Guard military
base at Fort Indiantown Gap, is a consortium between the
entities in the Institute name. The school is funded through
state and federal grant money provided through the
Pennsylvania National Guard.
The PSP/HACC Polygraph Institute @ NCTC is for sworn
law
enforcement officers only from state and municipal law
enforcement and corrections or probation/parole agencies.
The Institute does not train any officers from any federal
agencies or any foreign countries. Officers from
Pennsylvania are given first preference for 50% of the
available slots with the other 50% reserved for officers
from the 18 states served by NCTC to include all states
from, and including, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia,
and Virginia to the south and west, and all states north
and east of those. Officers from the rest of the United
States are eligible to attend if a class is not filled
within 90 days before the beginning of the class. Classes
since the inception of the school in 2003 held 14 students.
Starting January 2006, the class size is being increased
to
18 students, with three classes scheduled for 2006. The
last 2005 class began on July 18th with 14 students.
The program is a 12 week program of 480 scheduled hours
for
the academic portion then a 6 month to 24 month supervised
internship for the practical portion of the course. The
course is accredited by the American Polygraph Association,
recognized by the American Association of Police
Polygraphists, and exceeds the basic training education
standards of the American Society for Testing & Materials.
In order to be part of the Northeast Counterdrug Training
Center, it must also be approved by the CALEA, the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies,
and undergo periodic inspections. Approval is also being
sought by the U.S. Department of Education and the American
Council of Education (ACE) for ACE college credits. Credits
have already been granted by Harrisburg Area Community
College for successful completion of the program. HACC has
provided polygraph training since 1970 and has been
APA-accredited since the early 1980’s. The polygraph
training program closed for approximately 10 years and was
re-accredited by the APA in 2000.
An Associate degree program in Forensic Polygraphy has
been
approved by HACC, and two transfer institutions are in the
process of approving baccalaureate Criminal Justice degrees
with concentrations in Forensic Polygraphy. Once all of
this falls into place, graduates of all other accredited
polygraph schools will be eligible to pursue the Associate
and Bachelor degree programs.
The facilities are state-of-the art. The building houses
a
classroom for 18 students, each with their own
desk/computer station so whatever is projected onto the
smart board is also projected onto their computer screen
which will also allow projection from a document reader for
paper polygraph charts as well as projection for videos and
DVD’s.
There is also a library/media room, “break room,”
several
offices, storerooms, and 10 interview/examination rooms
with each separated by an observation room with video and
sound as well as two-way mirrors, and storage space. The
examination rooms are equipped with desks, adjustable
polygraph examinee chairs, chart reading tables, printer
stands, and examiner chairs.
The students are given thorough instruction, training,
and
practical use of analog instruments for the first half of
the course, and thorough instruction, training, and
practical use of computerized instruments the second half
of the course. The school has Axciton, Lafayette,
Limestone, and Stoelting computerized instruments, and the
student may learn use of that which their department
already has or will have as well as any of the other 3
instruments, if desired. The computerized polygraph
manufacturers send representatives from their respective
organizations for training of students with their
instruments to include Chris Fausett, Yasmin Brokema, and
Ross Hahn (Lafayette), Jamie Brown and Tyler Buttle
(Limestone), and Ken Bird and Al Cross (Stoelting).
The curriculum provides thorough training and use of
the
DODPI ZCT; the DODPI “You” Phase ZCT; the DODPI MGQT –
Army
and Air Force Versions; the Canadian Police College ZCT;
the Matte ZCT; the Relevant-Irrelevant and Modified
Relevant-Irrelevant formats; the Utah ZCT Single-Issue
and Multi-Issue Raskin Version test formats. The students
are given further instruction in the Arther Specific
Accusation format; the Backster “You” Phase ZCT,
Exploratory, and “SKY” formats; the Gordon Integrated
ZCT; the various Marcy Test formats, and the Reid Test
formats. Instruction is given in the latter formats so that
students will be able to properly identify a technique on a
test brought to them from and outside public or private
examiner and determine if the test protocol was used
properly.
We believe in the approach that “the more tools
one has in
their toolbox, the more effective one will be.” This is
especially true when testing someone who has been tested in
the past, or who was tested “inconclusive,” or who may be
well-versed in the anti-polygraph areas, or who might plan
to use countermeasures. The examiner will then have
different avenues from which they may approach the examinee
rather than just having one or two formats from which to
choose.
Our highly-skilled and many well-known faculty members
are
comprised of all present or former law enforcement
polygraphists from municipal, state, and federal law
enforcement agencies who still remain active in testing.
EDITOR'S NOTE: (At this point in the article, Elmer
listed each instructor and their profile. Due to space
constraints in this newsletter, the complete article
including the instructor profiles can be downloaded
here:
http://www.polygraphplace.com/docs/psphacc.pdf
The school is directed by Elmer Criswell who has been
a
police and private polygraphist since 1972. He taught at
the Harrisburg Area Community College School of Polygraph
Technology from 1975 to 1977 when he became Director until
the school closed in 1988. He directed the Pennsylvania
Institute of polygraph Science from 1992 until 1998 which
had AAPP recognition but could not get APA accreditation
because of rules, at the time, against satellite-type
programs. HACC reopened its polygraph school as the Police
Academy Polygraph School and was re-accredited in 2000 by
APA and recognized by AAPP. It was absorbed by the PSP and
NCTC consortium in 2002. Criswell is also the program chair
of the HACC Criminal Justice program. He has been bestowed
the Clinchard Award by the APA and the Wastl Award by the
AAPP. He has published many articles, mostly as the Editor
of the “Polygraph Chronicles,” the forerunner to the
“Relevant Issue.”
The school has no tuition, lodging, or meals costs for
sworn
public law enforcement officers from municipal and state
law enforcement agencies. The only cost is for
transportation. This also includes over 1,000 pages of
handouts in 5 binders, Matte’s textbook and supplement,
Forensic Psychophysiology, and the 11 laminated Quick
Reference Guides from NPC, and several instructional CD’s.
It also includes use of all polygraph equipment for the 12
weeks in residence. The lodging facilities are recently
built on the military base and are clean and comfortable.
The meals are provided from a variety of local restaurants
that have excellent meals. Also, by having no costs
associated with the training, law enforcement agencies no
longer have the excuse that I have to send officers to
voice stress school because of budgetary reasons.
Quality Control for the school is provided by the
Pennsylvania State Police, who inspect it frequently during
a 12 week class, and is directed by Corporal Thomas
Lazicki, the Coordinator of the PSP Polygraph Unit. The
Quality Control Committee, which provides guidance on
policies and procedures, screens applicants for the
program, and serves as a ‘clearinghouse for any grievances
or complaints, includes representatives from Pennsylvania
State Police, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General,
Harrisburg Area Community College, and the Northeast
Counterdrug training Center. Each entity also provides
several inspections of the program during a class.
For information, please visit our website (which is under
construction for updating of the polygraph school
information, but still working):
The NCTC website also includes an abundance of other
courses of an investigative nature; e.g., from Identifying
Deceptive Behavior and Interview/Interrogation to Money
Laundering, Drug Investigation, POLEX, Spanish for Law
Enforcement, Undercover, Grant-Writing, etc. These are
also at no cost to sworn law enforcement officers.
We are in the preliminary stages of planning an annual
update course for polygraphists as well which would be from
3 to 5 days and include well known speakers in our field.
If the funding is available, this will be available to all
sworn law enforcement polygraphists. Also, dependant upon
the funding will be the availability of no-cost lodging and
meals and first priority would go to graduates of PSP/HACC
Polygraph Institute @ NCTC
You may also reach Elmer Criswell for any questions at:
NCTC General: 877-806-6293
PG School Direct: 717-861-9432
HACC Office Direct: 717-780-2513
E-Mail: encpolygraph@yahoo.com
or encriswe@hacc.edu
_____________________________________________________________
5. UPCOMING SEMINARS: Is your state association having
a seminar anytime in the year 2005/2006?
Please send me the details so we can let everyone
know. mailto:support@polygraphplace.com
-----------------------------------------------
- TRI-STATE (KS,MO,NE) POLYGRAPH 2005 SEMINAR -
-----------------------------------------------
When? Aug 31st -
Sept 2nd, 2005
Where? Chateau on The Lake - $99/night
Branson, MO.
http://www.chateauonthelakebranson.com
Who? Speaker: Mr. Neal Barker
Includes: Missouri, Kansas & Nebraska Associations
For information contact John M. Hurlock at (816)-739-9951
e-mail: jmhurlock@aol.com
http://www.missouripolygraph.com/seminar.html
-----------------------------------------------------
- SOUTH CAROLINA POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION 2005 SEMINAR -
-----------------------------------------------------
When? Sept 8th -
9th, 2005
Where? Radison Plaza Hotel ($78 a night)
Myrtle Beach, SC.
Who? Dan Sosnowski and another TBA
How Much? Unknown - contact Robbie Bennett (APA)
For information contact Robbie Bennett at (423) 892-3992
e-mail: manager@polygraph.org
-----------------------------------------
- NEW JERSEY POLYGRAPHISTS 2005 SEMINAR -
-----------------------------------------
When? September 14th-16th,
2005
Where? Freedhold Gardens Hotel $75/night
Freedhold NJ.
Who? Speaker will be Donald Krapohl of DODPI
How Much? $150 for NJP members, $200 non-members
For information contact Thomas DeBruin at 732-229-5226
-----------------------------------------------------
- MISSISSIPPI ASSOCIATION OF POLYGRAPH 2005 SEMINAR -
-----------------------------------------------------
When? September 19th
- 20th 2005
Where? Golden Moon Hotel & Casino
Philadelphia, MS
How Much? $110 per person
Who? Speakers: Rick Rogers & Bob Campbell
For information contact Bruce Mize at 662-513-7776
or email hrbruce@nmrc.state.ms.us
-------------------------------------------
- MIDWEST REGIONAL POLYGRAPH 2005 SEMINAR -
-------------------------------------------
When? September 27th
- 29th 2005
Where? Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
187 Monroe Avenue NW
Grand Rapids, MI
How Much? $100 per person if paid by 7/1/2005
Who? Too many to name - see website below
For information contact
Ben Escalante at (616)647-0816
or Kari Bumbleburg at (765) 423-1505 x 211.
http://www.midwestregionalpolygraph.org/
-----------------------------------------------
- COLORADO POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION 2005 SEMINAR -
-----------------------------------------------
When? Oct 7th - 8TH,
2005
Where? Denver, CO. (Details TBA)
What? DODPI scoring, countermeasures
and EPPA
Who? Speaker will be Scott Manners
How Much? TBA
For information contact Gary Paxton
email: garypaxton4@aol.com
----------------------------------------------
- ALABAMA POLYGRAPH ASSOCIATION 2005 SEMINAR -
----------------------------------------------
When? Oct 29th -
Nov 3rd, 2005
Where? Carnival Cruise to Mexico - $482.50/person
Departs Mobile, AL.
Who? Speaker will be Scott Manners
How Much? $482.50 per person covers all costs
For information contact Herbert McCants
email: hmmccants@asdd.com
____________________________________________________________
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2005 - The Polygraph Place. All Rights Reserved
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