Supreme Court Upholds Use of Lie Detectors in Testing Police Trustworthiness Ignacio Alzaga - Milenio
go to original February 14, 2013

Mexico's own corrupt police officers often hinder the country's fight against drug gangs and organised crime but government officials in the state of Nuevo Leon say they have a plan to get rid of corruption, once and for all. Al Jazeera's Franc Contreras reports from the northern city of Monterrey. (AlJazeeraEnglish)

The Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico upheld the constitutionality of the application of the polygraph ['lie detector'] and examinations of control of confidence [trustworthiness] to all public servants of the Attorney General's Office to determine their continued employment in the institution.

However, it noted that the polygraph results are not sufficient to terminate a member of the PGR or infer a lack of honesty, and that the test should be evaluated with other periodic assessments to which the staff is subjected in order to prevent the generation of sources of corruption within the agency.

MV Note: Polygraph tests are a part of the "tests of confidence" ordered by federal law and being administered to all 500,000 federal, state and municipal police in Mexico. The federal Ministerial Police, investigtive police within the Attorney General's office, are thus only one part of those being tested. Polygraph tests have not been found to be reliable. The Mexico government recently announced it was reviewing the use of the polygraph.

The confidence tests are an attempt to weed out corrupt agents who may be linked to drug cartels and organized crime. The process has been delayed in many states and Congress recently extended the deadline from this past January to October of this year. Many of the police who 'failed' the tests have not been fired. 

The Second Chamber of the Court partially dismissed an amparo [appeal for an order of protection] filed by former angent of the Ministerial Police [investigative police], Juan Carlos Cruz Valencia, who worked in the Office of Special Investigations on Organized Crime. ... The justices ruled that

"...The agents do not acquire tenure in office just because they have satisfied the entry requirements and because of the passage of time, rather it depends on their passing consistently and periodicaly the tests of evaluations of confidence."

They noted that the use of the polygraph is justified and does not violate the fundamental right of due process, since the objective of the processes of control of trust is that public servants comply with the principles of legality, efficiency, professionalism, honesty, loyalty, fairness and respect for human rights.

"The application of the polygraph test does not violate the fundamental right of due process, because although its aim is to test the truthfulness of a person, the result that it provides only indicates the variation of the neurophysiological system of the person being tested, but in no way will it be conclusive that the changes are the result of a lie. This is owing to the fact that interpretative analysis is necessary, as well as the choice of questions, their sequencing and the corresponding responses."

The Court recalled that the results of this analysis should be seen in conjunction with other tests: medical, toxicological, physical skills, psychological, social, financial position and on-the-job performance.

In resolving the appeal, the Chamber indicated that it is the duty of the PGR to guarantee to society an institution that is capable, professional and transparent, which can only be achieved if its members are accredited through the trust evaluation.

It considered that the assessments did not affect rights previously aquired and that a public servant who wants to remain in office in the future must follow the requirements of the law [i.e., submit to these evaluations].

See Spanish original

Posted by Reed Brundage at Mexico Voices

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!