bachus
Bluelighter
I live in Maryland.
Last October about $3,000 worth of rented sound equipment was stolen from a club in Pennsylvania. At the time, my wife, son, and I had access to the premises as we had just concluded running weekly parties there. Several other people had key access, plus there were several people in the town who knew how to get in without a key. We didn't take the stuff. Several of the others with possible access were known to be somewhat sketchy characters.
The police called yesterday and asked us to submit, volutarily, to a polygraph 'so they can eliminate us from their list of suspects'. They said they weren't polygraphing any of the 'sketchy' suspects because they couldn't find them. I seriously doubt that the police have any good evidence against anyone so are looking to the polygraph as an interrogation tool to try and get a confession out of someone.
My concern is that polygraphy is perfectly capable of falsely identifying a person as untruthful. Polygraph proponents rate this probability somewhere in the 3-7 percent range. Polygraph opponents claim it's more like 50% Moreover, the more inherently honest a person is, the more likely they are to generate a 'false positive'. My wife, bless her, is righteous to a fault and also very easily un-nerved.
So, if my family submits to the test, there is a distinct possibility (at least 1 in 5) that one of us will be incorrectly judged to be 'untruthful'. That's worse odds than Russian Roulette!
I don't mind helping the cops. But they've only given us the briefest of telephone interviews to date and haven't even spoken to my son. The owner of the equipment was a good business friend and we'd be happy to see the thief caught or the equipment returned (though after 5 months that seems unlikely). But I don't want to help the cops make a stupid conclusion that my family or I are responsible.
Just about all the anti-polygraph websites say that if you're being investigated for an offence and are innocent, you should decline a polygraph. But this might be taken by the cop as an indication of guilt.
We're damned if we do and damned if we don't.
So should we decline or agree?
If we decline, What are the possible consequences?Can the cop take that to a judge as cause for a search warrant? What if the cop's from another state?
Is it time to start spening money on a criminal defense lawyer? Do I need one licensed in MD, PA, or both?
Please. We're losing a lot of sleep over this.
Bachus
Last October about $3,000 worth of rented sound equipment was stolen from a club in Pennsylvania. At the time, my wife, son, and I had access to the premises as we had just concluded running weekly parties there. Several other people had key access, plus there were several people in the town who knew how to get in without a key. We didn't take the stuff. Several of the others with possible access were known to be somewhat sketchy characters.
The police called yesterday and asked us to submit, volutarily, to a polygraph 'so they can eliminate us from their list of suspects'. They said they weren't polygraphing any of the 'sketchy' suspects because they couldn't find them. I seriously doubt that the police have any good evidence against anyone so are looking to the polygraph as an interrogation tool to try and get a confession out of someone.
My concern is that polygraphy is perfectly capable of falsely identifying a person as untruthful. Polygraph proponents rate this probability somewhere in the 3-7 percent range. Polygraph opponents claim it's more like 50% Moreover, the more inherently honest a person is, the more likely they are to generate a 'false positive'. My wife, bless her, is righteous to a fault and also very easily un-nerved.
So, if my family submits to the test, there is a distinct possibility (at least 1 in 5) that one of us will be incorrectly judged to be 'untruthful'. That's worse odds than Russian Roulette!
I don't mind helping the cops. But they've only given us the briefest of telephone interviews to date and haven't even spoken to my son. The owner of the equipment was a good business friend and we'd be happy to see the thief caught or the equipment returned (though after 5 months that seems unlikely). But I don't want to help the cops make a stupid conclusion that my family or I are responsible.
Just about all the anti-polygraph websites say that if you're being investigated for an offence and are innocent, you should decline a polygraph. But this might be taken by the cop as an indication of guilt.
We're damned if we do and damned if we don't.
So should we decline or agree?
If we decline, What are the possible consequences?Can the cop take that to a judge as cause for a search warrant? What if the cop's from another state?
Is it time to start spening money on a criminal defense lawyer? Do I need one licensed in MD, PA, or both?
Please. We're losing a lot of sleep over this.
Bachus