Idaho State Police Job Applicants Say EyeDetect Reduces Stress of Hiring Process
Since implementing EyeDetect this fall, this law enforcement agency says the automated lie detection test standardizes and streamlines screening job candidates. Applicants that pass their EyeDetect test bypass the polygraph pre-employment screening. This has already saved the agency approximately $5,500 on its first 19 successful applicants.
The Idaho State Police recently started using EyeDetect as its pre-screening job applicant technology. The agency’s applicants say it makes the interview process less stressful. ISP says after recently implementing EyeDetect, hiring costs have already been reduced by $5,500.
LEHI, Utah – October 31, 2018 – The Idaho State Police is the latest of several U.S. law enforcement agencies to adopt EyeDetect as its pre-screening lie detection technology for job applicants. Applicants find ISP’s new application process less stressful than polygraph. ISP says EyeDetect streamlines and standardizes its hiring process, while also reducing costs.
“EyeDetect has made us more efficient and has fundamentally changed our hiring process for the better,” said Idaho State Police Major Bill Gardiner.
EyeDetect, by Utah-based tech start-up Converus, requires a person to answer a series of true/false questions on a computer screen while an eye-tracking camera monitors involuntary eye behavior — including pupil dilation, blink rate and other eye movements — to detect deception. The test takes 15-30 minutes and provides a “truthful” or “deceptive” score within 5 minutes.
Idaho State Police Major Bill Gardiner says EyeDetect has made his agency’s hiring process more efficient.
Some of the comments from applicants who have taken an EyeDetect test include: “Your process is much better than others I’ve gone through,” “This is much less stressful than a traditional poly,” and “Oh, this is cool.”
“Ultimately, the pre-employment screening process is about the applicants,” said Lieutenant Matt Sly.“Agencies need to ensure they’re giving applicants the best opportunities in a standardized testing process.”
ISP originally learned about EyeDetect from two other Idaho law enforcement agencies, the Boise and Meridian police departments. After reviewing the technology and the research behind it, the agency then purchased two EyeDetect stations in August and immediately integrated it into its hiring process.
“Applying for a job — especially with law enforcement — is already stressful enough,” said Converus President and CEO Todd Mickelsen. “EyeDetect’s automated test puts job candidates more at ease because there’s no examiner asking questions and no cables or sensors attached to the applicants.”
Even though ISP believes polygraph should remain a vital part of the pre-employment hiring process, the agency says it saves time and money (approximately $5,500 thus far) by not using polygraph on its first 19 applicants that already passed an EyeDetect test. The agency also discovered that when applicants failed EyeDetect, they also failed polygraph.
“I believe there is a genuine concern from polygraph examiners regarding EyeDetect and it replacing them as a polygraph examiner,” said Sly.“Based on our results, we still conducted a lot of pre-employment polygraphs. It does add a little time to the testing process on the front end, usually an hour. But if they pass EyeDetect, we save time not doing a polygraph.”
EyeDetect is currently used by nearly 500 customers in 40 countries worldwide in 25 different languages. Other U.S. law enforcement customers include police departments in Kent (WA) and Palm Springs (CA), as well as the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office in Las Cruces, NM.
Governments, organizations and credibility assessment experts worldwide use EyeDetect to screen potential and existing employees for involvement in serious crimes, drug use, sabotage, espionage, terrorism and other criminal and unethical behaviors. For more information about Converus, visit: converus.com.
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About Converus®
Converus provides scientifically validated credibility assessment technologies. EyeDetect® detects deception at 86-90% accuracy in 15-30 minutes by analyzing eye and other behaviors. IdentityDetect® detects falsified identities at 91% accuracy in about 1-3 minutes by analyzing subtle variations in the motor nervous system responses. These technologies help protect countries, corporations and communities from corruption, crime and threats. Converus is headquartered in Lehi, Utah, USA. Visit: www.converus.com
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Converus Press Contact: Jeff Pizzino, APR /+1 480-606-8292
