Quite a few CANU officers fail lie detector test – President Jagdeo
Georgetown, GINA, May 16, 2008
A report on the polygraph tests carried out on officers of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) has been handed in to the administration and based on the preliminary account, quite a few officers failed the test conducted by a specialist brought in from the United States.
Speaking at a press brief today at the Office of the President, President Bharrat Jagdeo said that quite a few of the CANU officers failed the lie detector test. He said that conducting the polygraph allows the government to ‘know exactly how serious the breaches were or failure was in each case’.
In response to question by a reporter as to whether the government was still prepared to fire the CANU officers, the President responded in the affirmative. At a previous press conference President Jagdeo had stated that if the officers failed the test they would be sacked.
The Head of State stated that the test is to ensure that the unit tasked with fighting drug trafficking has integrity.
The call by the Head of State to have the CANU officers undergo the polygraph tests came in wake of allegations of fraud against Guyana Revenue Authority Officers (GRA).
The Head of State had said that it was the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority who had brought the fraud suspicion to his attention following revelations by Fidelity Investments which had been enmeshed previously in a matter with the GRA concerning the alleged smuggling of beer.
“I think this is the standard and developed technology now in law enforcement agencies across the world…almost every country would and particularly law enforcement agencies used this to verify the accuracy and the truthfulness of what they may say,” President Jagdeo told reporters.
He said that it will be used as a tool more and more in Guyana, which he notes will be a deterrent ‘because if the officers know that they are going be routinely tested it may help with them not getting into the activities’.
Guyana has its own polygraph equipment.
“We will probably send a couple of people to start working and to be trained, but it takes time to be trained, because it’s not just anyone can do a polygraph; it shows up almost immediately on the screen if the person’s blood pressure goes up or there are any other physiological changes.”
The President also indicated that other staff employed with the unit will be recruited with the understanding that they will have to face the lie detector. Others who are on the job will also be subjected to routine polygraphing.
In response to another question as to whether government is prepared to face the legal ramifications which may follow as a result of the officers’ services being terminated, the President said, “Yes we are, and most of these people are hired on contracts so the government has the right to terminate the contracts at any time, even without the polygraph.”
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