President of the Police Social and Welfare Association ASP Gideon Dickson says the association may seek legal advice to challenge the passage of the Miscellaneous Provisions (Testing and Identification) Bill.
The bill, which was passed last Friday with the support of the Opposition, will provide a regulatory framework for polygraphing, drug testing and the collection of biometric information for members of the protective services and certain offices in the Judicial and Legal Service, the civil service, and the Financial Intelligence Unit.
Dickson said while both sides of the political divide came together to pass the legislation, he took note that the police association was not consulted on the intended law. In a WhatsApp voice note yesterday, Dickson said it seems the police are being targeted while being the sole entity charged with addressing the two most serious things affecting the country—crime and corruption.
“Now you have brought legislation that speaks to a pseudo-science. To make it abundantly clear, it is a pseudo-science. You will want to call upon the same officers who are charged with investigating crimes to submit themselves to a pseudo-science that has not been proven to be 100 per cent accurate,” he charged.
He asked if polygraphing is as useful as some claimed, then it should be used by every sector in society to weed out those with ill intent. Dickson added that criminals, when being interviewed, should be polygraphed as well.
“Why is it our politicians are not subjected to it? Why is it our magistracy is not subjected to it? Why is it our judicial system is not subjected to it? Why is it our doctors are subjected to it? Why is it always an intent to target the police?” he asked.
Last year, human resource specialist and former member of the Police Service Commission (PSC) Courtney Mc Nish said while polygraph testing was not 100 per cent effective as it can be manipulated, it can be a useful tool.
“A lie detector test is not admissible in court in Trinidad and Tobago. Yes, it can be fooled but it possesses a good indicator of whether someone is being truthful” he said then.
The police service is no stranger to lie detector tests as it is mandatory for entry into specialised units, which Dickson confirmed, adding that it has been part of the recruitment process for almost two decades.
National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds last year said the legislation aimed to have the legal authority to conduct random polygraph tests in a bid to weed out corrupt officeholders in the Defence Force, police service, fire service, Customs, Immigration, Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and the Registrar General’s Department.
Former police commissioner Gary Griffith, when he was appointed in 2018, attempted to introduce random polygraph testing. Officers who refused, threatened to sue, claiming it was illegal for them to be subjected to random lie detector testing. Some officers were transferred out of specialised units for refusing to submit themselves to testing.
Dickson said the court may be the only solution to the issue.
“At this point in time, we will be seeking legal advice in relation to this piece of legislation, particularly because it infringes on the constitutional rights of our officers,” he said.