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Jim Matte endorsement of Nathan Gordon for President Elect of the American Polygraph Association.
Dear APA Members:
It is with the greatest pleasure that I unconditionally endorse Nathan J. Gordon for President-Elect of the American Polygraph Association. I have known Nathan for more than three decades and I have been continuously impressed with the depth of his knowledge of polygraph science now referred to by ASTM as forensic psychophysiology. He has displayed the rare brilliance of new ideas and concepts and the courage of his convictions. His devotion of our profession is exemplary. I urge you to please VOTE for Nate Gordon in the forthcoming election as our next President-Elect. Thank you for kind consideration.
Best regards,
Jim Matte
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 test ruled admissible in Florida trial.
2. Former Polygraph Examiner is New Special Agent in Charge. Jimmy Fox III, as new head of the New Orleans field division, will direct DEA operations in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas.
3. Polygraph one of many new tools to help Mexican President clean up Mexico. Good to see polygraph being utilized in this way. Hope we can help this President in his uphill battle against corruption in Mexico.
4. Polygraph is the subject of newly required Senior Projects. The video below is a newsclip about this Senior's experience. What I liked most about this is that the student, after setting out to discredit polygraph, is now considering it as a profession. You will need the Flash Plug-in to view the video.
Training Announcement
Behavioral Measures Institute presents:
Post-Conviction Sex Offender Testing (PCSOT) Seminar
Monday, 3/30/2009 - Friday, 4/3/2009
8:00 A.M. – 5:30 P.M. in Dallas, Texas
"This seminar brings together noted experts in specialties associated with testing, treating, and assessing risk to re-offend with populations of sexual and other offenders currently incarcerated, in civil-commitment settings, on probation and parole, and whose behaviors represent “high risks” to public safety."
2.
The National Polygraph Association - "Growing, Improving, Innovating" - by Ralph Hilliard
Last month, I attended the annual National Polygraph Association Seminar in Las Vegas. I endeavored to put my pre-conceived opinions behind and observe with as much open-minded observation as I was able. That turned out to be a rewarding decision.
I'll give you the summation first. I believe the NPA is on a new path to a new life in the profession. This year, I saw growth, improvements and innovation. There was an energy in the air to have an association that has a focus towards helping the private examiner, who quite honestly has gotten the short end of the stick throughout the life of this profession. At the same time, there was an equal focus to improve the profession for all. Two thumbs up, great job and kudos. The NPA is no longer the step child association of the profession, but has come into its own and I suggest deserves your consideration.
A few examples:
Growth:
This past year the NPA had some 30+ new members join the association which I believe is much higher than previous years.
I don't know the actual number in attendance at the seminar, but I do know there was some scrambling going on to fit everyone in the conference room because of the large 'at the door' turn out. I think for the first time in many, many years, the vendors were moved outside of the room into the hallway because space was needed for attendees. That's a great problem to have.
Improvements:
The seminar, which has been held for years in the Imperial Palace (not sure how this building is still standing), was moved this year to the Golden Nugget, a facility with vastly nicer rooms, more space, friendlier staff and more accomodating management.
The seminar content had depth and matched well the stated theme of 'A Tapestry of Techniques and Technology'.
Chip Morgan presented on moving beyond the basic necessity checklist of the polygraph interview into utilizing techniques to focus the interview for better results.
Barry Cushman presented on how to utilize the R & I technique for effective screening. His focus was on keeping in perspective what the data teaches us about the technique and how to use that data to limit weaknesses and increase strengths of the R & I so it can be utilized and defended effectively.
Ray Nelson presented the data and logic behind the creation of the Objective Scoring System (OSS). He explained why it was created and how this approach will help guide us into better scientific acceptance in the future. This was quite a task because we have a collective history of resistance to scientific rigor and quite honestly rely too much on the 'polygraph works, why change it' mentality that tends to stifle us in so many ways.
Dr. Charles Honts presented the 'Utah Approach', which I have come to understand was never intended to be a 'Utah Technique'. I was dissapointed that I was not able to attend the second half of Dr. Honts' presentation because I had to catch a plane, but I think it is safe to say the high level thrust of his message was this: Use study data to simplify as many complexities of polygraph as possible, continue working towards a sound, defendable theory of polygraph and avoid inflexible, blind adherence to arbitrary rules.
Innovation:
The NPA has made an innovative decision to adopt the ASTM standards as the standards for the association itself. This is brilliant in my opinion and I would hope that all the existing associations would soon follow suit. There are so many reasons why this is a great idea, of which my favorite is that it promotes unity and teamwork across the entire profession.
The NPA is committed to inclusion rather than exclusion. As an example, any member can request to quietly observe the board meetings even though they aren't on the board. In other words, the NPA maintains a stance that they have nothing to hide, that their motives are straightforward.
The NPA recognizes that for polygraph to be effective long term, it must encompass more than the pre-dominant mindset of 'identify the guilty and get the confession'. As a profession we must put equal energy into identifying the innocent. An excerpt from the NPA constitution reads:
"...it shall be the primary goal of the National Polygraph Association to foster and perpetuate an accurate, reliable, and scientific means for the protection of the truthful and innocent individual."
Many thanks to the NPA board, speakers & members for an excellent seminar. I look forward to next year.
3. Upcoming Polygraph Association Seminarsby Ralph 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.
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PolyScore vs. OSS3
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Criminal suspects attempting to control testing situations
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