Use of the polygraph in Russia
In December 1994, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia officially put the method of interrogation using a polygraph (hereinafter — IIP) into service of its operational units.
Now, fifteen years later, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is the largest Russian user of the polygraph in law enforcement practice and, apparently, the second — in the interests of personnel selection.
Over the past years, much has been done to develop the use of the polygraph in the country1. It can be confidently stated that the OIP method is in demand by society, and its steadily growing use is an urgent need. Another confirmation of this is the decision that in the Ministry of Internal Affairs «for the study of officials, personnel departments use the polygraph» This method will significantly improve the quality of professional selection upon admission to service and educational institutions»2. By November, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will adopt the corresponding regulatory framework.
At the same time, it should be noted that the unresolved nature of a number of issues significantly hinders further improvement of the use of the polygraph in the country. What are these issues?
1.The most important issue is the legal regulation of criminalistic research using a polygraph (hereinafter — CIPP), which does not correspond to the achieved level of their development and distribution in federal agencies and in the country as a whole. The lack of an adequate regulatory framework has led to the fact that other areas of this subject — methodological, scientific, technical, organizational and personnel, etc. — have begun to lag in their development, causing damage to both the persons tested on the polygraph and the users of CIPP. It is enough to note that due to the above reasons, it is currently impossible to even estimate how many polygraph examiners work in the system of internal affairs agencies (hereinafter — IA)3.
The instruction on the procedure for using the OIP by internal affairs bodies, which has been in force since 1994, is infinitely outdated. It is good that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is currently working on creating a new regulatory framework: the Bureau of Special Technical Measures (hereinafter — BSTM) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is preparing instructions on the use of the polygraph during operational-search activities (hereinafter — ORD), and the Department of Personnel Support (hereinafter — DKO) — instructions on the procedure for using the polygraph in the selection and placement of personnel. However, a superficial acquaintance with the drafts of these instructions showed that they do not fully take into account the specifics of using the polygraph and the activities of a polygraph examiner, as well as the norms of current legislation. It seems correct to recommend conducting a thorough discussion of the draft regulations: it should be remembered that after they come into force, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Russian citizens will fall under their effect, including — the police officers themselves.
It is not necessary to think that the shortcomings in the legal regulation of the use of the polygraph are only in the Ministry of Internal Affairs: they are common to all federal agencies. For example, the similar instruction of the FSB, put into effect in 1997, is morally outdated, and the draft of the new instruction, prepared in 2007, is bogged down in endless approvals.
2. The issue of training polygraph examiners is no less important: the situation has developed very difficult both in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in the country as a whole.
The “Methodology for conducting psychophysiological studies using a polygraph in personnel work, operational-search activities and criminal proceedings” (hereinafter referred to as “Methodology”), published at the previous conference, provided a “Sample subject plan for advanced training courses for polygraph specialists of territorial OTP internal affairs agencies” (hereinafter referred to as “Course Plan”), approved by the DKO of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in 2005.
According to this plan, the training of polygraph examiners (from the level of «zero knowledge» to passing the retraining exam) is carried out in 24 days (21 school days) in the amount of 162 school hours, which is clearly insufficient. In this case, classes are held in groups of 20 or more people. According to the standards accepted in world practice, the training of a «commercial» polygraph examiner is at least 8 weeks, and a polygraph examiner in the civil service — several months4; classes are held for groups of no more than 10 people.
Domestic experience in training polygraph examiners (FSB Institute of Forensic Science) has shown the need for gradation of specialists in this profile: these are «personnel polygraph examiners» (volume — 480 hours; duration — 6-8 months) and operational polygraph examiners (volume — 1100 hours; duration — 18 months).
In order to improve the quality of training of polygraph examiners of the Internal Affairs Directorate, it seems appropriate to recommend updating the «Course Plan» by increasing the volume of classes and improving the quality of teaching itself. Given the growing demand for specialists in this profile, it is also advisable to evaluate the possibility of opening additional (in addition to the STM Center of the All-Russian Institute of Advanced Training of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia) courses for training polygraph examiners.
3. Improving the quality of methodological support for the activities of polygraph examiners of the Internal Affairs Directorate. A significant step forward in this matter is the publication of the above-mentioned «Methodology».
Familiarization with the «Methodology» showed that it is, in essence, a brief practical manual for polygraph examiners of the Internal Affairs Directorate, which contains certain information (well-known and new) about the history of the KIPP method, its application abroad, about the socio-psychological assessment of the motivation of students of the All-Russian Institute of Advanced Training of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to master the profession of a polygraph examiner, etc.
At the same time, the «Methodology» does not contain important sections concerning the formulation of questions for polygraph testing, the assessment of recorded reactions, etc. Therefore, it is hardly possible to consider this manual as a «Methodology for conducting psychophysiological studies using a polygraph», since it is not a methodology in the generally accepted sense of the term. Therefore, it seems necessary: 1) to receive feedback from employees and polygraph examiners of the Internal Affairs Directorate on the prepared «Methodology» so that in its subsequent editions (possibly calling it a «Practical Manual for Polygraph Examiners») the comments made are taken into account and the inaccuracies and typos are corrected; 2) to continue work on methodological support for the activities of polygraph examiners of the Internal Affairs Directorate and to develop a «Methodology for forensic psychophysiological studies using a polygraph» that satisfies the existing level of their development.
4. Forensic psychophysiological examination using a polygraph (hereinafter — SPPE). Being in the development stage, this new type of examination has exposed and clearly demonstrated the acuteness of the issues that have developed at the present time in the domestic technology and practice of KIPP. The main reason for the difficulty of SPPE development is the lack of due attention to this topic on the part of state expert institutions. It is enough to note that the two largest specialized institutions in the country — the Forensic and Criminological Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the Russian Federal Center for Forensic Examinations of the Ministry of Justice of Russia — do not have a single polygraph examiner on their staff and do not conduct any scientific and applied research on the topic of SPPE.
The resulting scientific and methodological «vacuum», for lack of a better one, was filled by the «Specific expert methodology for conducting psychophysiological research using a polygraph»6 (hereinafter — «Specific methodology»), which has been vigorously promoted in recent years, created in the ANO «Center for Independent Comprehensive Expertise and Certification of Systems and Technologies». As was shown earlier6, the shortcomings of the «Specific methodology» are due to the fact that it erroneously defined the object of the SPFE, and this error inevitably entailed an erroneous definition of the tasks and formulation of the SPFE questions. This was followed by unsuccessful recommendations for formulating conclusions with the results of the examination and, finally, an incorrect definition of the polygraph examiner's competence in performing the SPFE. Conducting SPFE using the «Species Method» is of a defective nature, and the results of the examination obtained with its help may be rejected by the court as invalid.
In this regard, it seems necessary to recommend:
1) polygraph examiners to refrain from conducting examinations until a scientifically sound SPFE method is created and, in particular, from conducting examinations using the «Species Method»;
2) state bodies7 and non-governmental organizations, when it is necessary to conduct SPFE, should avoid seeking help from specialists using the “Species Method”;
3) state expert institutions should speed up work on creating a scientifically based SPFE methodology.
In conclusion, we note that all those interested in the further development of the KIPP in the country need a Federal Law «On the Use of the Polygraph», which would establish uniform standards for the use of the polygraph in all spheres of life and public practice and eliminate many of the shortcomings and absurdities in its use that are currently observed.
1 Kholodny Yu.I., Sychev M.P. 15 years of using the «lie detector» in Russia//Business glory of Russia. Inter-industry almanac. 2009. Issue 2. P. 48-51.
2 Nurgaliev R. Barrier from corruption//Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 7.08.2009. P. 6.
3 According to available information, there are about 200 specialists in the STM divisions system; about 50 people in the personnel selection system (according to the data of the Psychodiagnostics Centers of the Medical and Sanitary Units of the Internal Affairs Directorate); and an unknown number of polygraph examiners in other structures of the Internal Affairs Directorate.
4 Kholodny Yu.I. Application of the psychophysiological method of lie detection in Japan//Bulletin of criminalistics. 2008. No. 4 (28). P. 30-35.
5 Species expert methodology for conducting psychophysiological research using a polygraph //instrumental lie detection: realities and prospects for use in the fight against crime: Proceedings of the international scientific and practical forum. Saratov: SYuI MVD of Russia. 2006. P. 90-96.
6 Kholodny Yu.I.Forensic psychophysiological examination using a polygraph: the period of formation. Article 1//Bulletin of criminalistics. 200S. Issue №1(25). Pp. 25-33; Article 2//Bulletin of criminalistics. 2009. Issue №1(29). Pp. 27-35; Kholodny Yu.I. Interviewing using a polygraph and the competence of a polygraph examiner //Theory and practice of forensic examination. 2009. №1. Pp. 203-211; Kholodny Yu.I. Forensic psychophysiological examination using a polygraph and expert findings //in print.
On January 31, 200S, the 7th Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia issued an order according to which polygraph examiners of the Internal Affairs Directorate are instructed to «exclude the practice of conducting forensic psychophysiological examinations and not to allow them to violate the regulatory and legal acts governing this area of official activity.»
Kholodny Yu.I.,
Doctor of Law,
Candidate of Psychological Sciences
(Bauman Moscow State Technical University), Moscow
Proceedings of the international scientific and practical conference of polygraph specialists
of law enforcement agencies «Instrumental lie detection — 15 years on guard of the law:
results of the past and development prospects