Introduced Feb. 3 in the Washington State House of Representatives by Rep. Brendan Williams (D-Olympia), House Bill 1929 seeks to regulate the qualifications for state licensure of persons who conduct polygraph tests. Something else it does, according to Professor James Chapman, is outlaw any truth-verification system other than polygraph, regardless of how technologically-advanced or accurate such systems may be. That, Chapman believes, is a huge mistake, and he's letting legislators in the Evergreen State know about it.
Yesterday, the director of education and standards for the National Association of Computer Voice Stress Analysts sent an electronic letter to legislators and law enforcement officials in the state in which he warned that the proposed law would also prohibit any new truth-verification technologies developed in the future from being used in the State of Washington.
Below is an excerpt from Chapman's letter:
During the 1970’s, the American Polygraph Association had each of its state organizations submit “Polygraph Only” legislation into their respective state legislatures to eliminate any competition from newly emerging truth verification technologies. Currently, only several states have such “Polygraph Only” laws due to the unnecessary restrictions and burden such narrowly-focused laws placed on local and municipal law enforcement agencies. Several of those remaining states are in the process of amending their laws to allow police agencies to utilize more technologically advanced and accurate truth verification systems such as the Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA).
The National Association of Computer Voice Stress Analysts (NACVSA) represents over 1,800 US law enforcement agencies which utilize the CVSA. The membership and board of the NACVSA find it incredulous that a tiny group of pro-polygraph lobbyists would attempt to restrict Washington State law enforcement from using the CVSA, which has been used successfully in Washington for over 20 years. This is merely an attempt by a small group of polygraph examiners to manipulate the legislative process to create a monopoly in Washington, and unfairly exclude competition.
The NACVSA’s position is that no law enforcement officer or technician, whether they collect evidence, serve as ballistics experts, photograph crime scenes or utilize truth verification technology, should be required to apply to the state for a license to perform his or her job – as is the case for private investigators. If you would like to preserve your right to choose which technology your agency can use in the future - and not have a small group of individuals alter state law to dictate your choice - it is critical that you contact your state Legislators, Chief’s of Police and Sheriff’s Associations to voice your opposition to this ill-conceived legislation.
As a former Forensic Laboratory Director and Criminal Justice Professor I urge you to oppose WA H 1929.
Chapman signed his name, of course, and offered a phone number for interested recipients of his letter to use to contact him. In addition, however, he included with his letter pdf versions of three articles which combine to explain why Americans cannot afford, as I wrote at the top of this post, to deem this subject "yawnworthy." Links to those articles appear below. I recommend you read them:
No Need for Research, Interrogation Tool Exists
Small Group of Bureaucrats Hampering Use of Anti-Terror Technology
CIA Deaths, Terrorism Could Have Been Prevented
EDITOR’S NOTE: If the items above caught your interest, stay tuned! During the next few months, I plan to continue my research into Computer Voice Stress Analysis® and publish my findings in a book, tentatively titled, “Turf War.” For a nine-page sneak peak and to find out how you can help this writer expose the truth, click here.
