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| The Case for Forensic Polygraph Testing in Post-Adjudication Sexual Offender Examination and Management |
| By Ken Blackstone |
| Published: 10/31/2011 |
In 1973, in the Multnomah County Circuit of Oregon, Judge John C. Beatty, Jr. was the first to order the use of the polygraph in the management of convicted sexual offenders. Today, almost 40 years later, the number of registered sex offenders in the US and its territories exceeds half a million and they are all under some form of management. The post adjudication polygraph is used by the responsible State and Federal agencies in three common circumstances: in prisons during the incarceration of convicted sex offenders; in the community during subsequent probation and parole; and during the civil commitment of sexually dangerous persons.
The Problem Polygraph examination is a catch-all term used to describe the use of the polygraph instrument, either as a forensic tool to determine the veracity of a statement or as a utility tool to generate statements and disclosures. While these two approaches are superficially similar their foundations are not. To equate one with the other is like comparing lightning bolts and lightning bugs. Law enforcement agencies use polygraph to support investigation of criminal matters and attorneys use the polygraph both for establishing direction in their cases and to present as evidence in an upcoming proceeding. Whether the polygraph examiner conducts a forensic examination that is reliable or a utility examination that is undependable is often unknown to the agencies and attorneys involved. In a pre-adjudication setting a suspect or person of interest may be asked to take a polygraph examination as a means of assessing his or her denials about being knowledgeable, involved or even responsible for the alleged crime. A witness or informant may be asked to submit to a polygraph for the purpose of assessing the accuracy or truth of information he or she has provided. Although “victim testing” by law enforcement is barred in some states, in others an alleged victim of a crime may be asked to take a polygraph test to determine the accuracy or truth of testimony to either support the conviction of a guilty person or prevent the wrongful prosecution of an innocent person. Thus, polygraph examinations are of great importance and impact on the tested individuals and the matters to which they offer evidence. These pre-adjudication situations are all alike in that there is an “issue at hand” and they are truly voluntary. In a post-adjudication setting a convicted or committed offender is expected to take periodic polygraph examinations to encourage candor and discourage any lapse or relapse during treatment and supervision. The use of the polygraph in the evaluation and management of convicted and committed sex offenders is of great interest; treatment providers will often agree that the polygraph is the only existing tool for measuring behavior and supervising officers see the polygraph as a way of keeping offenders accountable. A periodic post-adjudication polygraph examination in the community can be used to assess a variety of issues that may include precursors to a reoccurrence and whether the convicted person should be considered for early release of parole or a relaxation of probation controls. These post-adjudication situations are similar in that these examinations will seldom address a specific “issue at hand” and while they are an option the only other option is prison. Scientifically based studies have concluded that the carefully administered, “forensic” or single-issue (one relevant issue) polygraph exam, conducted properly and optimally by a qualified examiner, is 89 to 92 percent accurate. It is the most accurate tool available today for determining truth or deception. When any reduction from the disciplined rigors of forensic polygraph examination occurs, the reliability of the results can and must be called into question. However, in the post-adjudication sexual offender setting, a less rigorous “utility” approach is often taken and the accuracy of polygraph results diminishes for a number of reasons. The training, skills and discipline of the examiner are typically lower; the purpose of the examination may be far different and more exploratory; the questions are more generalized, ambiguous, and sometimes confusing. The accuracy of a 91% accurate exam is now 50-50. Unfortunately, at the present time, the less accurate “utility” approach is the norm for post-adjudication testing of sexual offenders. As a consequence, treatment providers and community supervisors are impacted by the outcomes of these “utility” examinations, even though the outcomes are unreliable because they are beyond the parameters established by research. Fortunately, the utility test is not a necessity; it is conducted as a matter of economic convenience. Proposed Solution Forensic polygraph examination has safeguards which keep its error-rate below 10 per cent. This type of polygraph testing is frequently used in the legal, intelligence and investigative communities. As an example, the popularity of the polygraph in the Federal agencies arena is encouraged by the high caliber of training and supervision provided its examiners. Similar standards and training need to be developed and deployed in the area of post-adjudication assessment and management of sexual offenders. Utility tests, such as the ones most currently popular in sex offender management programs, actually invite errors (false positives and false negatives). A “false positive” can result in a waste of professional resources and it can unfairly hamper the otherwise honest sex offender who is trying to rebuild his life. A “false negative” can allow recidivism that could have been stopped before anything happened*. Here are some examples where forensic polygraph examination may have helped prevent tragic crimes from occurring:
Conclusion Post-adjudication testing of convicted sex offenders is a different arena than pre-adjudication testing; however, it does not require a “reinvention of the wheel”. The parameters of forensic testing already exist. The responsible agencies, instead of ignoring these disciplines, should incorporate them into their existing discipline. This, among other things, will improve the quality of post-adjudication polygraph examiners and their work product by:
Editor's note: Corrections.com author, Ken Blackstone is an expert regarding polygraph examinations. He is the author of the book "Polygraph, Sex Offenders, and the Court". Since 1979 he has been involved in more than 23,000 polygraph examinations as an examiner, consultant, and expert witness. He has conducted more than 15,000 examinations and consulted on a thousand more, including several high profile cases (including the Jon Benet Ramsey case and the Troy Davis case). He has written numerous peer-reviewed articles on polygraph and forensic interviewing. The majority of his career has focused on sexual offense cases and the examination of convicted and/or committed sexual offenders. He lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia. |
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I am a polygraph examiner and do post conviction testing. I agree that utility tests, which have validity rates lower than a specific issue forensic tests, are doing harm. I agree the every test conducted should be done so that it has the highest possible validity rate. We are headed down the wrong road again by saying that utility is more important than validity!
P.S. If he had been on state probation, we would have known he wasn't living where he said , that he wasn't registering as required, and we would have had a warrant out for him a long time before hand, even though he was not on for a current sex offense, and was not subject to polygraph. Give us some credit...we take the supervision of our current and prior sex offenders very seriously in Florida We will agree polygraphs are a valuable part of the supervsion of sex offenders and are required by state statute when supervision is for a sex offense. And the polygraphers must be forensically qualified.
Couey was not on state probation. He was on county probation for a misdemeanor