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Alert_Confusion t1_iylgrg1 wrote

Reply to comment by MasterpieceLive9604 in US Customs officer retirements pose another challenge for cross-border trucking. More than 9,800 officers will be eligible to retire in 2028. by r_sharon

CBP has a lot of trouble with staffing, partially due to the fact that ~70% of applications fail the polygraph exam during the background investigation.

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MasterpieceLive9604 t1_iylgx1k wrote

Are they asking about history of smoking weed on those exams or what? Seems high! They can't all be criminals applying for jobs, right? Seems like a problem with the questions maybe...?

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Alert_Confusion t1_iylhe8c wrote

Polygraphs are nothing but pseudoscience. The results are largely open to the interpretation of the examiner. I personally know guys who failed CBP’s polygraph after being accused of lying about whether or not they’ve engaged in terrorism against the United States.

I’m not against using polygraphs as part of a background investigation; but I feel like it’s only use should be as an interview tactic. Results should have no bearing on employment as long as the applicant hasn’t admitted anything disqualifying.

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MasterpieceLive9604 t1_iylhib6 wrote

If you're getting a 70 percent failure rate, it does strongly imply there's a problem with the screening process not the applicant pool. Hope they get rid of it as you say and focus on other screening tools.

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Alert_Confusion t1_iylhw54 wrote

In my opinion it could be a number of different factors. Maybe there is a flaw in their screening process, or maybe that 70% is just because of the sheer amount of applicants per year.

CBP is the largest law enforcement agency in the nation; they likely receive tens of thousands of applications per year, and that could definitely lead to a higher number of disqualified applicants.

Sample size makes a huge impact when talking about percentages.

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asdaaaaaaaa t1_iylkbgd wrote

Likewise, I've known people with incredibly vulnerabilities/issues that managed to pass them. Even if you are a bad person for the job or have heavy disqualifiers, if you're confident and have no anxiety over the test, you still pass. Obviously it's a bit more in-depth than that, but as you said, it doesn't measure honesty, it measures anxiety and other sympathetic reactions that are impossible to tell by themselves if it's honesty or something else.

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burningcpuwastaken t1_iymby1e wrote

A coworker of mine was fired for falsifying data and was hired by the Tucson police department's criminal lab a month later.

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