Suba allowed staffers with suspect polygraphs

by Nick Delgado

Guam - In the last five years, two individuals who had inconclusive polygraph test results were employed at the Guam Police Department by then-chief of police Paul Suba.  The information was provided upon the request of the Public Safety Committee following an oversight hearing held late last month with GPD.

While the law for hiring an individual as a police officer specifically states that one must submit to and pass a polygraph examination, oversight chairman Senator Adolpho Palacios contends it's ultimately the decision of the chief of police.  "So it shows that in the last five years there were only two and that the practice has always been that if there is anything other than no deception and not inconclusive, then those are the kind of people that are hired," he explained.

An inconclusive result indicates that the polygrapher could not determine if the individual was being truthful or deceptive. The issue arose following Suba's hiring of Police Officer Trainee John Edwards, who was determined to be deceptive on his polygraph but was hired anyway. Edwards has sought an administrative review of his examination.