Just seven police departments in the state can conduct polygraph tests, and two of them are right here.
When the New England Polygraph Institute held its first training class in New Hampshire last spring, Plaistow Chief Stephen Savage and Londonderry Detective Patrick Cheetham were in attendance.
Nearly a year later, Plaistow is just getting up and running with its testing, while Londonderry has utilized the tool since last summer. But Savage has big plans to use the lie detector tests for pre-employment screenings, investigations — and town profit.
Plaistow selectmen approved the purchase of a $10,000 office trailer last summer as a short-term solution to space problems inside the safety complex. Shifting some offices freed up a room, which Savage quickly converted to an interview and polygraph room. On one side, there's a table and chairs. The other side is more complex.
The walls are wired with cameras and voice recorders so Savage can make a DVD of a test at the flip of a switch, he said. He runs the software on a laptop, which is hooked up to a chair that measures respiration, sweat and blood pressure.
The $700 bill for the chair caught the eye of Selectman Dan Poliquin. He said that's how he found out about the polygraph suite, which was quietly renovated using mostly drug forfeiture money. It was almost as quiet as when the chief disappeared to attend the 11-week training last year, Poliquin said.
The training cost $5,500, which included most of the equipment.
That money doesn't have to go through selectmen, interim Town Administrator Jason Hoch said. It's the result of settlements from drug seizures and must be used for police training and equipment, per the Department of Justice.
"I think that the reason it's been a little quieter is that we used drug forfeiture money," Hoch said. "If we were directly spending taxpayers' money, it would have been gone about differently."
In Londonderry, the entire cost of the training and equipment was picked up by the town, Cheetham said.
Londonderry police had open interview rooms that could be converted into a space for polygraph testing because the department moved into a new building just three years before, Cheetham said.
Because the transition was made quickly, Cheetham said, he was able to administer three polygraph tests in the first three weeks after training. He gave three more in July, three in August and one in September. Then there was a lull until February, when he said he gave four.
Savage said he has administered "some" polygraph tests, but wouldn't specify a number.
Both police departments require new officers to take a polygraph test as part of the hiring process, so a majority of the tests Cheetham gave were for that purpose, he said. The others were part of criminal investigations.
Since Plaistow hasn't hired anyone in the last year, Savage hasn't needed to administer any preemployment exams.
As soon as Cheetham returned from training, Londonderry police Capt. Bill Hart said the department organized the technology and began taking advantage of it.
"It's been a boon to us so far," Hart said.
He said Cheetham has administered tests for one or two other towns, but that Londonderry doesn't plan to charge for the service.
But the promise of a little revenue is what sold officials on Savage's training.
In the future, Savage will do pre- and post-employment polygraphs for $300, he said. Those payments will go to the town. But for criminal cases, he will conduct the test for free for other departments as part of his "obligation in the law enforcement community," he said.
Londonderry is saving money by having its own examiner. Before they used the polygraph less because they were dependent on another town's resources and time-frame, Cheetham said. Plus, they had to pay a fee each time they needed a pre-employment test done, he said.
"It's a tool that we've never had so readily available to us," he said.
In Plaistow, the chief said it saves manpower as well. They are short staffed and for each test they needed to run, an officer had to come off the line to drive to Portsmouth, he said.
The training is good for a lifetime, but Savage said he will probably spend time each year training and would like to send another officer to training in the "medium-term" future so someone can utilize the technology after he retires.
The chief is in his early 60s and eligible for retirement, but he said he plans to stay on until after the department is accredited and possibly in a new building.
