Police use lie detectors to keep check on sex offenders
GREATER Manchester Police are trialling polygraph tests to keep tabs on sex offenders.
The force is using the examinations, results from which are not accepted by UK courts, to check on registered sex offenders.
The sex offenders must voluntarily submit to the test, which has been used to expose love cheats on ITV’s Jeremy Kyle Show.
Those who are suspected to be lying can then be subjected to a more traditional investigation to find out if they are committing sex offences again or breaching court orders.
The test, which can take between two and three hours, works by tracing changes in a person’s behaviour during questioning. According to the British Polygraph Association, the test is ‘highly reliable providing the person using it is properly trained’.
A previous trial conducted in the Midlands in 2012 found that offenders were twice as likely to make admissions during a test.
Offenders who are out of prison on licence can be returned to jail if a failed test is backed up by other information which indicates they have breached the terms of an early release or they pose a risk to the public.
A GMP spokesperson, said: “As part of a national initiative, GMP have been trialling new and innovative ways of managing registered sex offenders. One aspect of this trial includes the use of polygraph examinations carried out by specially trained staff.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for the management of sexual offenders and violent offenders, Chf Con Michelle Skeer, said: “Polygraph tests are currently undertaken by a small number of police forces as part of their broader management of sexual offenders.
“The use of polygraph is purely voluntary and not a solution to risk management on its own.
“Work is currently ongoing to understand the benefits of polygraph within policing and whether its use could be expanded in the future.
“Any continued use of polygraph or its expansion will be done with due oversight.”