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Lie detector or polygraph tests are already being conducted on ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) abroad to determine whether their contracts will be renewed, Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj, announced on Friday.
In time, he said during an end-of-year press briefing, "that [the polygraph test] will be extended to other security agencies that operate within the context of the state."
The minister was explaining why a number of vacancies in the anti-narcotics unit were not being filled. He and the head of CANU have had discussions and they are looking at recruitment aspects, Gajraj told reporters.
"Some people, because of fear; some people, because of other reasons, have chosen to leave CANU... some of them, without giving the requisite notice. But we have implemented certain systems based on certain reports that have engaged my attention and there are a number of CANU ranks who are subject to certain tests, with a clear understanding that their contracts would be renewed depending on the results of those tests. And I can tell you that they are subject to the polygraph test," Gajraj stated.
He said some of the vacancies have been filled, and there are some operatives out of the country currently undergoing the polygraph test. Others are to go shortly.
In a polygraph test, rubber tubes are placed over the subject's chest and abdominal area to record respiratory activity. Two small plates attached to the fingers record sweat gland activity. A blood pressure cuff is used to record cardiovascular activity.
The subject is then asked a number of questions, to which he or she responds yes or no and deemed to be obvious truths so as to ascertain a controlled response. After this more pertinent questions are asked and the results compared. Although allowed in some US courts under certain conditions, they are not considered foolproof. In November, the Jamaican police department said officers seeking promotion to senior ranks or to assignments in sensitive areas would be subject to lie detector and other integrity tests as part of a programme to root out corruption.