Douglas Gene Williams[1] (October 6, 1945[2] – March 19, 2021[3]) was an American critic of polygraph tests. Williams administered polygraph tests for US law enforcement and private companies but came to consider the tests unreliable and harmful.[4] He subsequently quit and spent decades publicly condemning polygraph tests and commercially teaching techniques purported to affect test results.[1][5][6]

Williams' activism included appearing on 60 Minutes[5] and testifying before a US Congressional subcommittee.[1] His teaching business led him to be the target of a federal sting operation in 2012 and 2013, in which agents announced intentions to use his methods to lie in polygraph tests to conceal crimes and maintain government employment.[5][1] Williams provided instruction to the agents, and in 2015, he was convicted on multiple counts of mail fraud and witness tampering and sentenced to two years in prison.[7]

According to AntiPolygraph.org, Williams resumed publicly providing polygraph-taking instruction after his supervised release ended in 2020.[3] He died in 2021 following an illness and was cremated.[3]

Bibliography

  • (2014) From Cop to Crusader: My Fight Against the Dangerous Myth of "Lie Detection." Wise Media Group. ISBN 978-1935689737
  • (2020) How to Sting the Polygraph. Polygraph.com. ISBN 978-1734751505

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bennet, Drake (August 4, 2015). "The true story of an ex-cop's war on lie detectors". Bloomberg Business.
  2. ↑ U.S. v. Douglas G. Williams (W.D. Oklahoma 2014), Text.
  3. 1 2 3 "Doug Williams, RIP". 23 March 2021. Archived from the original on March 24, 2021.
  4. ↑ CBC Radio (May 8, 2015). "Meet Doug Williams, the ex-cop battling polygraph testing".
  5. 1 2 3 Kaste, Martin (January 2, 2015). "Trial Of Polygraph Critic Renews Debate Over Tests' Accuracy". All Things Considered.
  6. ↑ Lufkin, Bryan (October 4, 2018). "If your boss asked you to take a polygraph test, would you?". BBC Worklife.
  7. ↑ Noble, Andrea (September 23, 2015). "Former Oklahoma City cop gets two years in prison for polygraph coaching". The Washington Times.


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