Can Lie Detectors Filter Racist Cops?

Coopertown, Tenn., police Chief Shane Sullivan is trying to clean up his town's image. The goal: no more race-related law-enforcement misconduct. Step 1: Give each officer applicant a polygraph test to screen out potentially problematic members of the force. Suggested Reading New AI TikTok Trend Has Gorillas Posing as Black Women, and Folks are Pissed…

Coopertown, Tenn., police Chief Shane Sullivan is trying to clean up his town's image. The goal: no more race-related law-enforcement misconduct. Step 1: Give each officer applicant a polygraph test to screen out potentially problematic members of the force.

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But the key inquiry isn't "Are you racist?" or "Have you ever made a racist remark?" As a spokesman for the American Polygraph Association told the Associated Press, it's much more effective to ask about factual matters versus subjective questions about bias. So candidates are required to give a "yes" or "no" to a question about whether they have ever committed a hate crime or a race-based crime.

Sullivan hopes just the idea of the test might help accomplish his goals, explaining that when it comes to people with a sketchy history on the matters at issue, "I think the polygraph will definitely keep these people from applying."

Read more at the Associated Press.

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