S706: The Lie Detector part 1

Learn how to cheat a polygraph test. Ex-cop, Doug Williams, says it's a lot easier than you think.  Doug Williams is looking over his shoulder because, since 1979, he's been on a crusade to defeat the polygraph machine. In 1996, he started a website called polygraph.com, offering a handbook and one-on-one training teaching people how to pass the test.  "There is no Pinocchio response. Your nose does not grow when you lie." - Doug Williams, polygraph critic According to Doug Williams, a lie detector test is about as accurate as a coin toss. He claims the machine doesn't work, and as a result, innocent people are paying the price. Many innocent people have pleaded guilty and skipped trial because they failed a polygraph during an interrogation. And employers routinely administered polygraph tests as part of their hiring process. If you fail a lie detector test in the US federal government, you're potentially placed on a blacklist and never allowed to apply for that government agency job again.  Doug Willams says that the polygraph is just a stage prop used to scare people. How does he know this? Because he spent most of his law enforcement career using it as what he calls a psychological billy club. To him, it was just a tool to beat a confession out of a bad guy. But over the years, he realized that a polygraph test is just that... a test. It can be cheated. And he was going to devote the rest of his life to destroy it.  Doug Williams made a career giving people polygraphs exams. Now, he's going to prison for teaching people how to cheat the test.     To listen to the undercover tape that led to his arrest.  Check out my latest episodes on YouTube: Credits This episode was reported by Javier Leiva.  Special thanks to George Maschke with antipolygraph.org Support PRETEND by becoming a member today at pretendradio.org/donate   Featured promo for Movie Pitch Challenge  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices