COLUMBIA — Lie detector tests could allow law enforcement officers in South Carolina who get fired for misconduct to get re-certified so they can get another law enforcement job.
State Criminal Justice Academy Director Hubert Harrell said it’s just a proposal at this point, but he thinks it’s a good idea to offer polygraph tests to officers accused of misconduct.
While some cases might have video footage showing officers breaking department rules or violating a suspect’s rights, most don’t, meaning it’s the department’s word against the officer’s.
“We don’t want to take a person’s career away from him without giving him a benefit of redress,” Harrell said. “His redress is to come to us and to say, ‘Look, they didn’t tell the truth about me.’”
Here’s how the system works: a law enforcement agency hires someone and then sends him to the Criminal Justice Academy. Once he graduates from training, the academy certifies the officer. If the officer is terminated, or even if he resigns, his certification lapses until he’s employed again.
But Harrell said just because an officer gets fired for misconduct doesn’t mean he’s no longer carrying a badge and gun.
“They’re very nomadic. They’ll move from one agency to the other,” he said. “They’ll get in trouble here and they’ll move to another agency. We’re trying to eliminate that in South Carolina.”
The academy is looking for ways to streamline the process and protect the officers, the agencies and the public.
“I want to limit the amount of time that we’re spending in investigating those cases by saying to the officer, ‘If you feel that the agency is misrepresenting what happened, are you willing to take a polygraph?’” Harrell said. “I can’t force anybody to do that. He can say, ‘No, I’m not willing to do that.’ That’s fine. Then he has recourse in going before a review panel.”
He said a good example of when a lie detector test might be helpful is a recent case in which two deputies were fired for having sex in a patrol car while on duty. If they had disputed the accusation, they might have wanted to take a polygraph.
Harrell said he realizes lie detector tests aren’t admissible in court, but the certification review process doesn’t have the same rules. He’s just looking for a way to tell if an officer is being honest.
At this point, offering lie detector tests to officers is just an idea that would have to be approved by the training board.
Harrell also is looking at changing the makeup of the appeals board. Now, it’s made up of employees of the Criminal Justice Academy, the same group that initially certifies officers. To make sure there’s no appearance of a conflict of interest, he’s proposing setting up a board of senior law enforcement officers from around the state to get training and act as a hearing committee to handle appeals.
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