Nottinghamshire Police team get lie detector to monitor convicted sexual and violent offenders

The state-of-the art polygraph device is now being used by specially-trained detectives to help ensure offenders are abiding by the various court orders placed on them at the time of their conviction.

Based at Mansfield Police Station, the machine is operated by a team of two detectives who recently underwent an intensive ten-week training course overseen by experts from the United States.

It is now being used in conjunction with a range of other measures to help police offenders’ behaviour and keep the public safe.

Other techniques used every day by public protection officers include in-person visits and interviews, property searches and the use of online monitoring software.

Detective Inspector Luke Waller heads up the management of violent and sexual offenders unit at Nottinghamshire Police.

He said: “When people commit serious violent and sexual offences they are often made the subject of court orders that tightly control their behaviour when they are released.

“They may for example be banned from making contact with children, or from having undeclared electronic devices like laptops and phones. We already have very effective ways to investigate ensure these orders are being met, but the polygraph machine is another tool at our disposal. Whilst it can’t be used in isolation to detect offending, it can give a very clear indication of where further investigation is needed.”

Polygraph machines – often featured in films and on television – work by measuring physiological responses that may otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. When these responses are properly analysed it can be ascertained with a high degree of confidence whether somebody is seeking to deceive.

The lie detector team recently interviewed its first person in November as part of an investigation into hidden electrical devices and reported a negative finding back to his monitoring officer.

Detective Constable Paul Parish said: “As a police detective I would like to think I am pretty good at telling when people are lying to me, but I know that I am not as good as a specialist machine designed to do that specific job. And that’s why this technology is so useful – because it can help me to confirm my suspicions and make appropriate decisions from there. It can’t tell me as a matter of certainty that somebody is lying, but it can give me a very good idea of where further investigation is needed.”

Detective Constable Parish and his colleague Detective Constable Chris Belton are now two of only 49 qualified police polygraph examiners in the UK

They are both members of the specialist management of violent and sexual offenders (MOSOVO) unit, which works every day to supervise violent and sexual offenders across the county.