Justice

When a polygraphologist is needed

We know very little and learn poorly, that’s why we have to lie
F. Nietzsche 

Everyone steals! With such a cry for help, the heads of large commercial structures most often turn: the people are impoverished, the selection and work with personnel  is not carried out, the security service cannot work harmoniously. A polygraph examiner comes to the rescue. What he can offer the director/owner of the enterprise, we will write in order. 

• Crime detection (establishment of involvement)
• Personnel checks (periodic and upon hiring)
• Official investigations (of working personnel)

Reasons for the need to use a polygraph in commercial structures:

• High inspection accuracy
• The possibility of obtaining data hidden by a person, when it is impossible to obtain them in another way

How dare you invite a polygraph specialist?

To know when you need a polygraph, you need, first of all, to know its capabilities. Then you should assess the problems and the situation at your company or among your acquaintances. The next step is to consult with a polygraph expert, who can tell you exactly how to solve the problem and what results can be obtained with the help of  a lie detector .

The polygraph is a powerful modern weapon in the fight against negative phenomena in society. For him, there are practically no problems that he would not successfully solve. It can be used in all cases where two goals intersect at the same time: to hide information and to obtain it. Moreover, the more significant the negative consequences for the person hiding the information, the more clearly the reactions are manifested during the polygraph interview. In the long-term practice of the agency’s specialists, there were the most extraordinary cases of using the polygraph: from the need to confirm an intimate relationship to the disclosure of theft crimes of more than one million hryvnias. This, so to speak, is exotic! When conducting a polygraph test, simpler tasks are mainly solved.

The established opinion that the polygraph should solve, mainly, the issues related to  the disclosure of crimes , is hopelessly outdated. Civilized societies have long since changed their attitude to this problem. In developed countries, up to 70% of the total volume of polygraph checks are related to solving commercial and private issues. This is the selection of new employees or repeated checks of already working staff of hotels, banks, shops, various warehouses, chain stores, security services, and so on.

Statistics show that in the USA, when hiring, about 8% of citizens twist their personal data in order to hide the negative aspects of their autobiography. Almost 7% hide the presence of various mental illnesses. Criminal elements are especially attracted to various funds, banks and other financial structures. According to the data of international statistics for 2008, out of 100 people interviewed on the orders of private companies, 75 are those who are hired for the first time; 20 – repeated checks and 5 people – conducting official investigations. Unfortunately, there are no statistical data for Ukraine yet.

Analyze for yourself whether the questions listed below are of interest to you and how important they are. In any case, answering them and solving problems in a timely manner will increase the efficiency of your enterprise.

The motivations of an employee for joining a job  can be a significant danger for the employer, and their implementation can lead to the closure of the enterprise.

For example, an employee who is connected to criminal structures comes to the bank’s credit department, and his main motive is “working for criminal structures.” Of course, this personnel “acquisition” does not bode well for the employer. Another reason for joining – working for a competing company – has the same negative consequences.

Presence of bad habits . These primarily include drugs and excessive alcohol consumption. Gambling enthusiasts are dangerous for the company. This especially applies to positions associated with significant financial responsibility – cashiers, accountants, commercial directors. There may be other bad habits affecting the quality and safety of work. For example, heavy smoking while working in explosive or fire-hazardous production.

The reasons for dismissal from the last place of employment  are also of interest. They can be based on scandals in the team, systematic violation of labor discipline, causing moral or economic damage to the enterprise.

The existence of a criminal past  must be checked when hiring security guards, security service employees, accountants, cashiers and sellers of large stores. Otherwise, the enterprise is inevitably exposed to the risk of becoming prey to criminal elements. People do not change, connections remain, and the temptation to appropriate material values ​​of the company and employees will be realized. It is in this case that the statement is absolutely correct: it is easier to prevent a crime than to reveal it.

When conducting personnel checks, the employer can determine the applicant for one or another position “tendency” to commit negative actions . Although it is necessary to remember that an employee who came with the intention of working honestly at the enterprise may experience a negative deformation of the personality under the influence of certain factors. Criminals are not born, they become them, and this is quite difficult to predict. At the same time, it is possible and necessary for any company that respects itself and strives to succeed to exclude from the group of candidates for the position persons who have a criminal past and are ready to commit a new crime.

Repeated checks.  One-time polygraph checks upon hiring have a significant impact on the normalization of the working climate in the team. But they are not a panacea for all ills. A person is not born a criminal, but becomes one. They steal mainly where there is no proper control over the movement of financial flows, products, and so on. In this regard, repeated polygraph tests are a powerful preventive measure. The terms of their conduct and the subjects of the survey are determined by the management of the enterprise. The periodicity of repeated inspections usually ranges from 2 to 5 years. But in the case of suspicion of dishonesty of an employee, his check with the help of a lie detector can be carried out at any time.

The leakage of information and its distortion to customers  are the main causes of many troubles in the field of work of banks and large network trading enterprises. Emphasis should be placed on these moments during periodic staff surveys in order to control the situation and minimize losses.

Service investigations  can be conducted on a very wide range of issues. Obviously, the topic of the investigation is not important. It is important to correctly establish the circle of persons – potentially possible participants in illegal actions, who will then be interviewed with the help of a polygraph. An expert polygraph examiner should help formulate questions correctly, based on known facts and data, and then conduct an investigation. If the guilty person is among those interviewed, he will definitely be identified.

In any case, the prospect of “taking a polygraph” significantly reduces the number of people willing to commit actions that cause material and moral damage to the employer.

Of course, the given list of areas of use of the polygraph in private structures is not complete. Life constantly makes its corrections, additions, new cunning ways of illegal withdrawal of money and fraud.  A polygraph is always needed!  And the sooner the manager and business owner understand this, the faster things will go and their business will become more efficient.

MAIN ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF THE NEED FOR POLYGRAPH TESTS

1. The ability to quickly expose a lie in order to later establish innocence.

2. The verification procedure involves a certain psychological moment that prompts the guilty to make a confession.

3. It is not uncommon for a person who is tested on a polygraph to confess to those crimes in which he was not even suspected by the person who ordered the survey.

4. Polygraph tests save people’s time, money and effort, while increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the investigation.

5. The lie detection method allows you to penetrate into the very essence of the question: what is the involvement of THIS person in the commission of the crime.

6. The method can be used in almost any type of investigation – great flexibility.

7. Favorable attitude of the press and people to the wider use of polygraphs.

8. Increasing degree of recognition in judicial practice.

9. The wheels of justice move very slowly, so this method is designed to indicate the direction in which further investigation should be conducted.

10. A polygraph test when hiring is the fastest and best way to confirm the candidate’s sincerity and loyalty, while the usual test procedure is long, expensive and often inaccurate.

11. The prospect for an employee to “take a polygraph” significantly reduces the number of those willing to commit acts that cause material and moral damage to the employer.

• Survey application  —> Download
• Sample report document based on survey results —>  Download

Who can not be checked on a lie detector?

Persons with certain mental and physical characteristics  cannot be tested on a polygraph , and the operator himself decides whether testing should be carried out. The operator of the polygraph should not attempt to perform a psychiatric or physical examination of the person before the test, but both he and the interviewer should consider the following:

1. Physical condition of the interviewee.

• A certain state of the cardiovascular system and respiratory disorders make the interviewed person one that cannot be checked on a lie detector. These violations can be recognized at the early stages of the inspection;
• Easily excitable and nervous people cannot be tested;
• Persons accustomed to the use of medicines, drugs, alcohol;
• Persons in a state of intoxication, sick, injured, worried about something should not pass a polygraph test;
• Those suffering from an acute physical or mental illness cannot be tested;
• Illnesses such as colds, coughing fits, hay fever, asthma, hiccups, severe allergies all affect a person’s suitability for a polygraph test.

2. Mental state.

• Mentally disabled and mentally ill people cannot be tested on a lie detector;
• People with significantly limited intelligence are very difficult to test: they practically do not feel the emotions of the moral plane caused by the fear of being accused of lying. Moreover, it is even impossible for them to distinguish a lie from the truth, as well as to understand the purpose and procedure of testing, the content of the questions.

3. Other factors.

• Some individuals may try to avoid or delay testing by feigning mental or physical illness;
• A person who was mistreated during detention may not meet the requirements for a person who is planned to be checked;
• A person who is emotionally depressed cannot take the test;
• If a person is under the influence of sedatives, he cannot be interviewed until the medication wears off;
• It is difficult to test a person who is extremely afraid of the testing procedure or has a guilt complex. As a rule, a special pre-test conversation and a clear explanation can avoid these problems.