Police Chief Cheats His Way to Power

Through deception and fraud one man
becomes a chief of police of a large city

Last month, two of the biggest police leaders of Bridgeport, Connecticut, were arrested on accounts of fraud. Police Chief Armando Perez and former acting Personnel Director David Dunn are being charged with wire fraud, making false statements to investigators, and conspiring to commit wire fraud. A hearing is being held this Monday, in which they are both expected to plead guilty.

While there are many checks and tests put in place to make sure that a newly selected chief deserves to be there, this scandal has proven that there are flaws in the system that need to be fixed. Dunn was able to give some of the answers of the oral exam to Perez before taking it. He then adjusted the scoring of the exam to ensure that Perez performed well. Perez somehow even escaped the writing exam, getting two other policemen to take it for him instead.

It is scary to think how this person was able to easily slip through so many tests and become chief of police. Keep in mind that this is not just some small town, but the largest city in Connecticut. If Perez was able to do it, how many other federal leaders are out there right now, in positions they illegally took? Regarding federal matters, there needs to be stricter measures put in place to prevent this from happening. Lie-detection services such as the polygraph are legal to use in this setting, but they are often expensive and extremely invasive. There does exist one alternative that some local police stations have already begun to put in place to avoid this kind of problem. It is an alternative lie-detection device called EyeDetect® by Converus®.

This device achieves a similar purpose like the polygraph, but it also provides numerous advantages. For one, this test gets its data from just one source — the subject’s eyes. Involuntary pupil dilations that occur when we lie can be picked up by advanced infrared cameras and then put in a computer system to give someone an overall credibility score. The topics discussed during the test are customizable, allowing each organization to tailor their exam to their needs, such as drug use, fraud, etc. This exam removes human error that can occur from other lie-detection tests, yielding results that are 85% accurate in just 30 minutes.

Other police stations have already seen the benefits of EyeDetect, using it to filter out candidates for certain important positions. This system, if used by other federal agencies around the country, could revolutionize our hiring processes and create an environment of trust and accountability.

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Photo by /Bernie Almanzar