Managing Sex Offenders with Lie Detection

Does managing sex offenders actually work?

By Eliza Sanders, Marketing –

Greater Manchester Police has reported an increasingly overwhelming amount of registered sex offenders to manage. Each special officer is responsible for 65 offenders while the national recommendation is 50. They use polygraph to help them to weed out which ones need more focus or attention so that the officers can better prioritize. Even though polygraph is not 100% accurate, the police claim that 80% of the ones tested have led to further important knowledge and even some arrests.

Peace of Mind

If there is any debate on whether lie detection can be useful in these cases, I’m definitely on the pro side. Officers need efficient ways of being sure about those they check on, not only for their peace of mind but for the community’s peace of mind that they serve.

Finding the Truth

Something that could further assist police officers with matters such as these is a new form of lie detection called EyeDetect. It is computerized and non-invasive, measuring reactions in the eyes to detect deception. While the polygraph is well-established and very useful, according to the American Polygraph Association, the average test takes a minimum of 90 minutes to complete. EyeDetect can take 20 minutes. Because EyeDetect is computerized and polygraph is not, more than one test can be administered at a time and the results can be quickly scored. Officers would be able to give monthly or even weekly tests to all their charges, instead of having to just focus on the ones that they are more concerned about. Furthermore, coupling EyeDetect with polygraph would ensure even greater accuracy in determining whether the examinee is being truthful.

The Eyes Don’t Lie

In the end, officers could be less stressed because they are more certain about their charges. Offenders would be more rehabilitated because they would be checked more often and more motivated to be truthful. For as we all know, the eyes don’t lie.

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Photo by / Bill Oxford