| |
 |
FBI veterans face lie detector test
|
SOME 500 employees of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will begin taking lie-detector tests next Monday, a security response to a veteran agent's arrest on espionage charges, FBI spokesman John Collingwood confirmed on Saturday.
Last week, the FBI started notifying employees with access to confidential data, from assistant directors to clerks, of the polygraphs. Workers face reassignment if they refuse to take them.
The 500 employees who will face the first polygraph tests of their careers include about 150 top managers at FBI headquarters in Washington, special agents in charge of regional offices and any others with access to sensitive intelligence material.
The expanded policy follows the arrest last month of Robert Philip Hanssen, charged with spying for Russia while working in highly sensitive counterintelligence jobs.
The FBI in the mid-1990s started giving polygraphs to new hires and agents working on highly-sensitive cases. But Hanssen and other long-time agents were never tested.
"With the occurrence of the Hanssen case, it's abundantly clear to everyone in the agency that we have to do this. We're not hearing complaints," Collingwood said.
FBI staff had been assured that questions would be "focused on espionage, not on lifestyle," he added.(SD-Agencies)
|
|
|
|
