Polygraph Freedom Of Information Act Requests

AntiPolygraph.org seeks to keep the public informed about polygraph policy through Freedom of Information Act requests. If you are aware of polygraph information that you think should be made public, contact us.

Central Intelligence Agency

• Request dated 27 March 2002 for two declassified articles on polygraphy published in 1960 and 1961 in the CIA publication Studies in Intelligence.
   
• Request dated 12 March 2002 for "Any report(s) on the history of the CIA polygraph division, including, but not limited to, any written by former CIA polygrapher John F. Sullivan."
   
• Response from CIA dated 26 March 2002 with estimated cost information.
   
• Follow-up Response from CIA dated 11 September 2002 waiving fees for this request.
   
• Response from CIA dated 2 October 2003, reporting that no history of the CIA polygraph division could be located, and withholding unspecified documentation on standardized CIA polygraph briefings.
   
• Request dated 12 March 2002 for "Documentation of any standardized briefing provided to CIA employees or applicants prior to their taking polygraph examinations, whether on paper, videotape, or any other media."
   
• Response from CIA dated 26 March 2002 with estimated cost information.
   
• Follow-up Response from CIA dated 11 September 2002 waiving fees for this request.
   
• Response from CIA dated 2 October 2003, reporting that no history of the CIA polygraph division could be located, and withholding unspecified documentation on standardized CIA polygraph briefings.
   

Customs and Border Protection

• Denial (25 kb PDF) dated 30 May 2014, stating, "A search for records responsive to your request revealed that any responsive recards are currently part of an open and pending investigation."
   
• Appeal (803 kb PDF) dated 15 July 2014, noting the absurdity of CBP's claim that information provided in such a public presentation "could reasonably be expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings" and questioning whether CBP had even examined the document before deciding to withhold it.
   
• Denial of Appeal (1.3 mb PDF) dated 25 August 2014. In upholding its original denial, CBP argues that "releasing the PowerPoint presentation could very well jeopardize the ongoing investigation by revealing investigative strategy." CBP further argues "the documents contain specific information pertaining to countermeasures that the employed by [sic] CBP applicants to undermine the effectiveness of the examinations. In addition, the documents contain information about the strategies that CBP utilizes to detect such countermeasure activity. Releasing the information in the presentation would provide a blueprint to CBP polygraph examiner strategies, reveal specific investigative techniques, and enable individuals to attempt to develop examination countermeasures thereby circumventing the law." AntiPolygraph.org notes that it is not illegal to develop, teach, or use polygraph countermeasures.
   

Department of Defense Polygraph Institute/ Defense Security Service

• Request dated 24 September 2002 for "[a]ny database(s) or other records describing the holdings of the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute (DoDPI) library." This request was assigned number 113-22(2), and DSS released the requested information on 26 November 2002. Click here for a bibliographic listing of the holdings of the DoDPI library (1.9 mb HTML file).
   
• Request dated 24 September 2002 for DoDPI and DSS records retention regulations. This request was assigned number 112-22(2), and DSS released the requested information on 18 November 2002. A PDF version of the Defense Investigative Service (since renamed "Defense Security Service") "Manual for Records Maintenance and Disposition" (DIS 00-4-M) dated July 1993 will soon be made available on AntiPolygraph.org.
   
• Request dated 11 July 2002 for "[a]ll inspection reports produced by the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute (DoDPI) Quality Assurance Program, from its inception in September 1996 to the present, along with any associated documentation."
   
• Request dated 14 March 2002 for "The current version of DoDPI's handbook for federal polygraph examiners."
   
• Follow-up message to DSS dated 17 March 2002 with additional reasoning why requested document should be released under the Freedom of Information Act.
   
• Letter of partial denial from DSS dated 9 April 2002.
   
• Download (1.04 mb PDF) those portions of the Handbook that DSS has thus far released.
   
• Appeal dated 20 June 2002 contesting DSS's decision to withhold portions of the unclassified Handbook.
   
• Letter of denial from DSS dated 12 July 2002.
   
• Request dated 5 September 2001 for "All Department of Defense Polygraph Institute (DoDPI) materials describing the R/I (Relevant/Irrelevant) Screening Test, whether on paper, videotape, computer media, or in any other format."
   
• Letter of denial from DSS dated 9 November 2001.
   
• E-mail request dated 23 November 2001 for a description of responsive materials withheld.
   
• E-mail reply from DSS dated 29 November 2001, indicating that the only responsive document identified and withheld was a 38-page DoDPI course lesson plan titled "DoD Polygraph Institute Relevant/Irrelevant Screening Test."
   
• Request dated 10 June 2001 for "All Department of Defense Polygraph Institute (DoDPI) materials describing the General Question Technique (GQT), whether on paper, videotape, computer media, or in any other format.
   
• Response from DSS dated 14 August 2001. DSS states in relevant part, "Please understand that the material you are seeking is no longer utilized by DODPI and has not been a part of their instruction for four years. Therefore, it most likely has been discarded."
   
• Request dated 7 April 2001 for a 42-page 1995 DoDPI document entitled "General Question Technique." This document has been previously released outside government channels, and we see no ground for DSS to withhold it.
   
• Response from DSS dated 21 May 2001. DSS states in relevant part, "A check of the available indices within DoDPI, revealed that no copies of GQT from 1995 exist. The GQT is no longer used by DoDPI or its instructors. It's been estimated that the GQT was last utilized in approximately early 1997."
   
• Request dated 1 January 2001 for an undated DoDPI document entitled "Test Data Analysis." DSS released this document on 26 February 2001. Click here to download it. (567kb scanned PDF)
   
• Request dated 19 November 2000 for all documentation describing the protocol followed in the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute's (DoDPI's) Test for Espionage and Sabotage (TES) study which was scheduled to begin 14 August 2000. The TES is the polygraph screening format used by the Departments of Defense and Energy. This study is purportedly a follow-up of Dr. Sheila D. Reed's 3rd TES study, publication of which DoDPI suppressed.
   
• Request dated 24 September 2000 for any DoD regulation requiring employees to sign a form certifying that they are willing to undergo a specific-issue polygraph examination if classified information they had access to has been leaked as a condition for access to Top Secret, SCI or higher information and any such certification form adopted pursuant to such regulation.
   
• Response from DoD dated 16 October 2001. DoD states in relevant part, "...the information you seek does not exist. The program you noted in the Polygraph Program Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 1999 has not been instituted. It was a proposal, and it remains under consideration, but unless it is implemented, no documents responsive to your request will be created."
   

Department of Energy

• Request dated 30 March 2002 for all documentation pertaining to the Atomic Energy Commission's polygraph screening program, which was in place from 1946-1953.
   
• Request dated 8 April 2001 for a Department of Energy videotape entitled "Counterintelligence Polygraph Test." This request was assigned number F2001-0000210, and the Department of Energy Office of Counterintelligence released the video on 27 April 2001 Click here to read a transcript.
   

National Security Agency

• Request dated 27 March 2002 for documentation of NSA's polygraph policy.
   
• Response from NSA dated 16 September 2002, denying AntiPolygraph.org's request for a fee waiver and demanding advance payment of $528 to process this request.
   
• Fee waiver appeal dated 22 November 2002.
   
• Response from NSA dated 14 March 2003, approving AntiPolygraph.org's fee waiver request.
   
• Response from NSA dated 28 April 2003, releasing the requested documentation with minor deletions.
   

California Public Record Act Requests

• Request dated 19 April 2004 for documentation of a six-month audit of the LAPD Polygraph Unit conducted in 2003.
   
• Request dated 30 June 2001 for documentation of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD) polygraph policy. LASD sent the requested documents on 6 July 2001. Click here to read the LASD Polygraph Examination Waiver/Pre-Offer form.
   
• Request dated 30 June 2001 for documentation of Los Angeles Public Safety Division (responsible for LAPD hiring) polygraph policy.