Law Enforcement: Detecting the Truth before Tragedy

Help prevent tragedy with better law enforcement screening

By Eliza Sanders, Marketing –

In a recent article in the Duluth News Tribune, the Minneapolis Police Department was called out for not effectively qualifying its personnel there. Among many other things listed, the article mentions that current requirements to become a police officer in Minneapolis include either an Associate’s degree or five years of experience in the military, as well as a medical and psychological exam. The medical exam can also include other testing like polygraph.

The article argues that an Associate’s degree is not sufficient and a bachelor’s degree would be better. More years of learning will better qualify officers to make logical, ethical, and humane decisions while on the job. Getting more education prior to becoming a sworn officer may not be enough, the article says, but it is a good start.

Change is needed

Most observers think change is needed. The unwarranted death of George Floyd on May 25th in Minneapolis is a tragedy. While I am not an expert on what will improve the vetting process of future police officers, can current law enforcement personnel be monitored? Will the new legislation, “Justice in Policing Act” help reform things? Is there a way to ensure excessive force will not happen again?
If officers are periodically tested about their conduct, might that discourage abuse? If you knew that every six months or so, you would be asked about your job performance, would you be more motivated to perform well? To follow the rules? Is this a possibility? Is it reasonable?

Possible Solution

EyeDetect® could help address these concerns. Completely computerized, an examinee would respond to true or false questions with a click of the mouse. It is scored using a computer algorithm and so it removes human bias, an important factor when trying to weed out corruption. It is more efficient than the most commonly known form of lie detection, the polygraph.

While the average polygraph takes anywhere from 2-3 hours, the average EyeDetect screening test is no longer than 30 minutes. It uses an eye tracker to read the involuntary reactions in the eyes one has when lying. This puts its accuracy about 88%.

Some agencies today already use lie detection as a means of regularly screening their employees. The federal government has outlawed the use of such methods in private companies; however, it has not been excluded from law enforcement or other state or federal government jobs.

While the state of Minnesota permits the use of polygraph for job applicants, it does not allow the use of lie detection in regular screenings. Clearly, some method of periodically checking could have been helpful.

We have seen that when a person in a position of authority abuses power, tragedy can occur.

The public wants to feel secure and confident. EyeDetect is a tool that can detect dishonesty to help deter tragedy.

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Photo by / Logan Weaver