If it’s widely accepted that a polygraph test is unreliable – how can the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) rely on the test to assess whether a job applicant is telling the truth?

The issue is not whether the use of a polygraph test as a recruitment tool would attract “the attention of the courts”.  Any professional recruiter knows that the issue is whether the test is valid and reliable.
Doesn’t the RBPF have access to our criminal records?  If yes, why can’t the RBPF look at those records to check whether a job applicant has a criminal record?

This is a good method for
weeding out undesirable elements joining the force.
Even though polygraph test aren’t foolproof,I don.t see why a potential recruit
would resist such a test out
of hand.A cop should be beyond reproach.Anyone joining the ranks shouldn’t have anything to hide.
Having a crime database would would be a good start
in helping to weed out the
bad element.
In my estimation,the problem the force has in the recruitment of young people is caused by the general anti-establishment attitude of the “lost generation.”

Tony not every criminal has a criminal record on file. There are a lot of criminals who have never been arrested.

Are presents members of the RBPF given the test when they are accused of wrong doing?
Are there any present members of the RBPF who were founded out to have lied after they were recruited? I have nothing against the test.If an individual wants to join the RBPF and he or she has nothing to hide they should not have any problems with the test. I am concern about righting off a person because they might have made a mistake in life. I am not suggesting that we take the criminal elements into the force.We need to give deserving persons a chance.

This should put the top brass in a spot of bother .After
all they seem not to be too many men that tell the truth about several things in the first place .
I do not see if you have nothing to hide why a person would shy away .Guess you would get great results in stopping some people because those that are strangers to the truth will not come .

What happens if a job applicant fails the polygraph test even though he or she is telling the truth?
Would it be fair that a truthful job applicant did not get the job due to an unreliable and invalid test?  Would he or she be able to appeal? If yes, how would he or she do so?

Carole, I agree with your comment.  However, I think that the RBPF could overcome the issue of “criminals without criminal records” by, e.g. obtaining references about job applicants from credible sources (e.g. the job applicant’s former head teacher).

It is also arguable that any criminal in Barbados would be well-known in his or her local community or by a member of the RBPF.
 
What is a crime may be subjective.  For example, there are numerous Barbadian males who have stolen (or broken) sugar canes from their local plantations but they were not considered to be criminals.

HI I AM A BARBADIAN LIVING IN THE USA. NOW POLYGRAPH TEST ARE A RECRUITING TOOL FOR ALL THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN THE USA. SO THE DIRECTION THE ROYAL BARBADOS POLICE FORCE IS GOING IS THE RIGHT DIRECTION BECAUSE IT WOULD ALLOW FOR THE POLICE TO SEE WHO THEY ARE RECRUITING.

It seems as if everything that is done in barbados is critisize by its residents. The world over uses the polygraph test as a standard assessment tool, so what’s the problem people? GO on RBPF you stepping in the right direction.

Do it the old fashioned way.Send a police sergeant or inspector into the applicant’s neighbourhood,(present and past)to make enquiries into the applicant’s character. Much more info will be gathered that way.

A combination of all methods is necessary.  poligragh is a minor part that still ‘calls for backup.’  Police can borrow from the indepth assessment conducted by the Defence Force.  Qualifications, though important should not be paramount. There are some who possess only basics or less, but who are capable of giving outstanding service. Remember that fraudulent qualifications and pranks of identical twins still prevail. It’s one of those things that must be done right first time around. cart before the horse operation cannot be condoned here.

The fact remains that the polygraph test is unreliable and invalid. No person in favour of the test being used by the RBPF has disputed this fact.
The use of the test as a recruiting tool by certain police forces in North America does not change the fact that the polygraph test is an unreliable and invalid test.
Should the RBPF blindly follow everything that is done by the police in North America? 

In other words, “Everything I do, de monkey [i.e. the RPBF] do too” [Source: song in the 1970s].

Would you use an unreliable stopwatch to measure the time in which a person runs 100 metres? Of course not – so why would you use an unreliable polygraph test to assess whether a job applicant is telling the truth?

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