Policy-based evidence
| September 19th, 2008Sex offenders in some parts of England and Wales will be made to take compulsory lie detector tests to see if they are still a danger to the public
The BBC, Sex offenders to face lie tests
Eye-catching policy from MiniJust, there. Trouble is, polygraphs are crap. From the BPS:
that even in the most favourable circumstances polygraphic lie detection accuracy is not high…People who are major threats may
well have strong incentives and sufficient resources to use countermeasures effectively…Research on the polygraph has not progressed over time in the manner of a typical scientific field.
Never mind. The money wasted won’t be missed and this lot will be out in the next General Election.