The
Relevant Issue #146 - 11/08/2008
A Publication of The Polygraph Place
In this issue:
- Polygraph Bits & Pieces - by Ralph Hilliard
- Veteran Examiner James Bassett creates tool for making EPPA lemonade easier and more profitable - by Ralph Hilliard
- Upcoming Polygraph Association Seminars - by Nadine Hilliard
- In The Private Forums - "Recent Topics from the Private Forum "
- Polygraph Place Products & Services
- New Book "Solving Employee Theft", by James Bassett now available.
- New Polygraph T-shirt Design unveiled and ready for sale.
- 'Polygraph Examiner' T-shirts now with new Custom Forensic Psycho-Physiologist Badge
1. Polygraph Bits & Pieces - by Ralph Hilliard
Thanks to everyone who regularly sends me these bits and pieces of polygraph information. Please keep 'em coming. detector@polygraphplace.com
Two new polygraph 'knock-offs' hit the market
1. The new LiarCard sellers state, "Voice polygraph instantly detects lies by analyzing your subjects voice via telephone"
Price: $10.00 for 30 minutes of phone time.
Makers: Teltech - a company who has another product "SpoofCard", which allows you to display any phone number you want in caller ID, swap male and female voices during talk and record conversations. Recently they had to close many accounts because users were using the tool to access private voice mailboxes by 'spoofing' the number. Guess they weren't thinking ahead on that one.
A few claims on the site are:
- LiarCard is over 95% Accurate
- LiarCard not only can determine lying, but differentiate between five different types of lying including jokes, white lies, embarrassment lies, offensive lies and defensive lies.
- LiarCard is better than traditional polygraph because traditional polygraph limitations "restrict the flexibility to the point of making it useless for lie detection."
Wow. We have been rendered useless for lie detection just like that.
2. The new Presidential Polygraph sellers state, "The software is the polygraph expert. This great game is fun and a real lie detector. Your assistant in the game is your favorite politician, and expert liar of your choice!"
Price: $49.95
Makers: Swamiware - A couple of video game programmers and the same guys who make and market such fine products as the Gel Filled Boob Mouse Pad (see picture to right).
Is it just a game? Not with these claims:
- The first home polygraph machine
- Super easy to use, no experience necessary
- Computer does all the work, just enter the questions
- Artificial intelligence simulates an expert polygraph examiner to insure properly executed exams!
- Examine "suspects" just like the FBI!
- Components: pulse, breathing, sweat, and body language(from user input)
- Learn techniques to beat the polygraph!
My beef with both of these products is not competition, but rather crossover confusion. The majority of people aren't aware of how vast the difference is between these gimmicks and what we really do.
Am I over-reacting? Maybe. Presidential polygraph attempts to 'prove' polygraph does work by making statements about polygraph that relate to us, real polygraph examiners, thereby aligning this toy with real polygraph. The site states the following:
Do Polygraphs really work? Yes.
- Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 bans the use of polygraph tests for pre-employment screening because they work.
- New Mexico allows polygraph results to be submitted as evidence in court.
- The FBI and CIA use the polygraph
- Used on telvision shows: Moment of Truth, and Maury Povich
- In episode 109 of the popular science show Mythbusters, they attempted to fool the polygraph by using pain to try and increase the readings when answering truthfully (so the machine will supposedly interpret the truthful and non-truthful answers as the same.) They also attempted to fool the polygraph by thinking happy thoughts when lying and thinking stressful thoughts when telling the truth to try and confuse the machine. However, neither technique was successful and the examiner Michael Martin correctly identified each guilty and innocent subject. The show also noted the widely held opinion that, when done properly, polygraphs are correct 80-99% of the time.
- It was widely reported that OJ Simpson repeatedly failed polygraph exams administered by his defense team.
So are we rice or are we a stereo?
Commodity: Anything for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market. In other words, copper is copper. Rice is rice. Stereos , on the other hand, have many levels of quality.
Polygraph Related News Articles (titles and descriptions are mine to help show relevance to polygraph. Actual article titles you can find in the links provided)
1. Polygraph Evidence becomes central to overturning an already overturned decision. A woman is tried and convicted. She appeals and wins. The appeal is challenged and overturned. At the center of all this is a statement obtained during a polygraph examination. Polygraph does not necessarily have to be admissible for its usefulness to be part of a trial.
Read the original article (By Ohio Supreme Court Justice, Paul Pfeifer)
2. Dr. Gordon Barland. You da man! Dr. Barland takes on a countermeasures challenge and nails it. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Mr. Maschke. Something tells me we won't see this article on AP.
Read the original article (KUTV News Reporter Bill Gephardt)
3. Follow up to the news piece about Trent Lee Banks having the opportunity to take a polygraph in an attempt to reduce his 45 year sentence. The first article has been archived so I cannot reference it, but the followup piece I have put in PDF format below. To summarize, Banks fails his polygraph, given by MICJ's Billy Thompson and receives the original full sentence.
4. 'Natural' Bodybuilding Competitions grow and with it, the opportunity for polygraphers like Washington's Marty Gunderson.
2. Veteran Examiner, James Bassett, Creates Tool For Making EPPA Lemonade Easier and More Profitable - by Ralph Hilliard
No doubt about it, the 1988 EPPA law demolished Pre-Employment testing for businesses. So we learned how to make lemonade.
The EPPA lemonade we CAN make comes from the clear exception in the law allowing us to test business employees in relation to specific monetary losses. This is great, but it is also fraught with hurdles.
1. Most employers, even though the EPPA poster is on the wall in their breakroom, don't know that EPPA lemonade exists.
2. When an employer becomes aware of EPPA lemonade, they often view the process as messy and more trouble than its worth.
3. Technically, we are not supposed to teach employers how to make EPPA lemonade as it could be interpreted as telling them how to conduct their 'on-going' investigation.
4. When an employer does make an effort to make EPPA lemonade, they often don't have all the ingredients to comply with the law.
5. Technically, we as examiners are supposed to walk into an appointment, give tests, give results and leave without consultation on what they can or can't do with those results, even though a careless or uninformed decision by an employer can lead to us being dragged into a lawsuit by a vexed employee.
6. Examiners learn quickly that if the employer doesn't have all the ingredients (valid reasonable suspicion, appropriate 48 hour notices, etc) we can't complete the tests and that just doesn't make the employer very happy with us, because they assume we should have given them detailed instructions.
In summary, EPPA can have us between the proverbial rock and hard place. The most logical persons to help employers make great EPPA lemonade are polygraph examiners. We understand what defines reasonable suspicion. We understand how NOT to use the polygraph results, etc. Somehow, we have to ensure that employers make great EPPA lemonade without directly teaching them how to do that.
Enter Jim Bassett's hassle free EPPA lemonade maker, The Reasonable Suspicion Questionnaire™ (RSQ™).
I first met Jim & Linda Bassett at the 2003 APA seminar in Reno, Nevada. That was my first time being a vendor and they had a vendor booth for their TheftStopper business right next to mine. I remember talking about the possibility of building a website for their business. Well, it took five years, but I finally got the job.
As a habit, I gather as many materials from my design clients and study them before building their website. I find this helps me better understand the people, the products and how to design a website that will not just be pretty, but effective. While reviewing their materials and having conversations with Jim about those, I noticed the RSQ and realized instantly what a great tool this will be in helping examiners and employers more easily jump the EPPA hurdles, reducing risk at the same time.
What is the RSQ?
Well, I don't want to tell you just yet because I want a chance to show off the new TheftStopper website I developed for the Bassetts. But I will say this...With recession in the air, you can count on employee theft rising and more calls from victimized business owners.
Police Examiners - If you sometimes find EPPA related polygraphs a distraction to handling the more urgent violent criminal cases, the RSQ will help you conduct FEWER polygraphs while at the same time still solving MORE cases.
Private Polygraph Examiners - The RSQ takes the hassle out of making more EPPA lemonade AND adds another revenue stream to your business by selling the RSQ to businesses. The employer learns how to make great EPPA lemonade, which will help their business now and in the future. Then you make more money providing the polygraph test if needed.That is quite a win-win.
The RSQ Package will be available on the Polygraph Place Store in the near future, but for now, you can read about it and purchase it through their breathtakingly awesome new Polygraph Place designed website (too much?) located at www.theftstopper.com. If you purchase the package, please let the Bassett's know I sent you.
Ralph Hilliard - Editor - The Relevant Issue - 770.794.1325 - detector@polygraphplace.com
3. Upcoming Polygraph Association Seminars by Nadine Hilliard
** Important Update** We have added a section below to have your seminar flyer available here for download. Just email us the flyer in either Microsoft Word or PDF format.
Seminar Dates Association(s) Location Contact Flyer
(new)Nov 14th, 2008 Arizona Polygraph Associations Tempe, AZ Laura Wells-Perry none Nov 21, 2008 Maryland Polygraph Association
FREE ONE DAY SEMINARCrownsville, MD Joy Neal none Jan 26-28, 2009 National Polygraph Association Las Vegas, NV Gary Davis download May 14-15, 2009 Maryland Polygraph Association Laurel, MD Joy Neal none YOUR SEMINAR - LET US KNOW -Nadine
(The Polygraph Place)
4. In the Private Forums - "Recent Topics from the Private Forum"
A few of the recent topics in the examiner's only private forum:
- Legal Issues with Pre-Employment Health Questions
- Testing a CVSA operator
- Directed Lie Screening Test
- Play the Valid or In-valid game
- Heart Rate Variability
- Child Polygraph Evaluation
What? Not yet a member of the FREE private forums for examiners only?
The private forums now have so many examiners registered I just stopped keeping count. The wealth of knowledge, information and wisdom that has amassed here is staggering. If you are an examiner, come and be part of this growing community.
Registration is a three step process.
1. Fill out the registration form.
2. After submitting the form, you will receive an email from the automated system with a username and password. Forward that email to me (support@polygraphplace.com) and include proof that you are an examiner. License, School, Department, Association Memberships, etc. If you do not provide something that we can independantly verify, you will not be given access.
3. Be patient. We have to verify your information and once we have, we'll authorize your login and be in contact with you.
5. NEW Polygraph Place Products & Services
- New Book "Solving Employee Theft", by James Bassett now available.
- New Polygraph T-shirt Design unveiled and ready for sale.
- 'Polygraph Examiner' T-shirts now with new Custom Forensic Psycho-Physiologist Badge
Solving Employee Theft - New Insights - New Tactics
- by James BassettBuy your copy on The Polygraph Place Store
"A detailed, easy-to-follow guide to the all-too-common problem of theft in the workplace" Kirkus Reviews
Drawing on decades of investigating employee thefts and conducting polygraph examinations, Jim Bassett has written a book. While other books might tell you how to investigate employee theft, Jim's book explains how to solve employee theft – and keep it from recurring.
Tough economic times cause employee theft to skyrocket.
This book is written in easy-to-read language to help you protect your business and your profits! It's filled with stories and anecdotes that illustrate the concepts.
Chapters Include:
• Chapter 1 - The Real Reasons Employees Steal
• Chapter 2 - How Employers are Complicit
• Chapter 3 - Creating a Positive Work Environment
• Chapter 4 - Minimizing Employee Theft Risk
• Chapter 5 - How to Screen Job Applicants to Prevent Employee Theft
• Chapter 6 - Interview of a Professional Thief
• Chapter 7 - Solving Employee Thefts on Your Own
• Chapter 8 - Understanding the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
• Chapter 9 - Solving Specific Thefts
• Chapter 10 - Solving Periodic Inventory Shortages
• Chapter 11 - Solving Workplace Crimes Other Than Theft
• Chapter 12 - A Brief History of Polygraph
• Chapter 13 - True FablesCost: $15.99
Buy your copy on The Polygraph Place Store
The Polygraph Place proudly unveils our new T-shirt Design
"Live each day as if you will take a polygraph tomorrow"
Available in three T-shirt colors. Black, Brown & Cardinal Red. We have a limited supply in our first shipment so order yours online today.
Available in three T-shirt colors. Black, Brown & Cardinal Red. We have a limited supply in our first shipment so order yours online today.
'Polygraph Examiner' T-shirts have new custom Forensic Psychophysiologist Badges on front.
We have a very limited supply these shirts with new badges. Order yours online today.
We have a very limited supply these shirts with new badges. Order yours online today.
If you have any merchandise or reference materials you would like to sell through the Polygraph Place Store, please call us with the details.
Phone: 770.794.1325
Email: support@polygraphplace.com
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