Doug Williams (polygraph critic)

Douglas Gene Williams[1] (October 6, 1945[2] – March 19, 2021[3]) was an American critic of polygraph tests. Williams administered polygraph tests for US law enforcement and private companies but came to consider the tests unreliable and harmful.[4] He subsequently quit and spent decades publicly condemning polygraph tests and commercially teaching techniques purported to affect test results.[1][5][6]

For other people named Doug Williams, see Doug Williams.

Williams' activism included appearing on 60 Minutes[5] and testifying before a US Congressional subcommittee.[1] His teaching business led him to be the target of a federal sting operation in 2012 and 2013, in which agents announced intentions to use his methods to lie in polygraph tests to conceal crimes and maintain government employment.[5][1] Williams provided instruction to the agents, and in 2015, he was convicted on multiple counts of mail fraud and witness tampering and sentenced to two years in prison.[7]

According to AntiPolygraph.org, Williams resumed publicly providing polygraph-taking instruction after his supervised release ended in 2020.[3] He died in 2021 following an illness and was cremated.[3]

Bibliography
  • (2014) From Cop to Crusader: My Fight Against the Dangerous Myth of "Lie Detection." Wise Media Group. ISBN 978-1935689737
  • (2020) How to Sting the Polygraph. Polygraph.com. ISBN 978-1734751505

References
  1. Bennet, Drake (August 4, 2015). "The true story of an ex-cop's war on lie detectors". Bloomberg Business.
  2. U.S. v. Douglas G. Williams (W.D. Oklahoma 2014).Text
  3. "Doug Williams, RIP". 23 March 2021. Archived from the original on March 24, 2021.
  4. CBC Radio (May 8, 2015). "Meet Doug Williams, the ex-cop battling polygraph testing".
  5. Kaste, Martin (January 2, 2015). "Trial Of Polygraph Critic Renews Debate Over Tests' Accuracy". All Things Considered.
  6. Lufkin, Bryan (October 4, 2018). "If your boss asked you to take a polygraph test, would you?". BBC Worklife.
  7. Noble, Andrea (September 23, 2015). "Former Oklahoma City cop gets two years in prison for polygraph coaching". The Washington Times.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.