Don’t tell a lie – if you do, the Forensic Voice Stress Analyzer (FVSA) will detect it. This was the message at the Sunday, November 4 meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club from John Wayne Ryan, Director of Training for International Truth Verification Technologies Institute (ITVTI). Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg introduced John. ITVTI is based in Perth, Western Australia, and is the developer of the FVSA. At the Club’s December 10, 2010, meeting John first introduced the FVSA and was invited back to give an update.
John is well known as a police and military trainer. He is an expert in the field of interviewing and interrogation along with deception detection, having trained in various techniques in a variety of locations with different instruments over a period of 40 plus years. He has authored several training manuals on the subject and has trained police and intelligence agents in Advanced Forensic Interviewing Techniques including the use of the FVSA.
John Ryan, Director of Training for International Truth Verification Technologies Institute (ITVTI), addresses PCEC members and guests on the state of the art of lie detection, and his organisation’s Forensic Voice Stress Analyser. The FVSA has enjoyed unrivalled success in helping solve crimes.
John gave a brief summary of his previous talk by noting that that there is no such thing as a lie detector. The polygraph, which has been in use for many years, measures certain physiological traits such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity. Although it can indicate deception, it is not infallible as results can be unreliable or inconclusive.
Following John’s talk, MC Richard Silverberg helps ‘Hawaii Bob’ Sutterfield with the Frugal Freddy lucky draw.
He also briefly mentioned the early use of voice stress analysis to detect deception. John said he became disillusioned with these various devices when he found many of the major proponents and developers were enhancing their claims by citing credentials that were bogus; for example claiming to have a legitimate PhD when it was obtained from a diploma mill.
However, when ITVTI developed the FVSA, it was quite different. They were using 21st century technology and real academics to develop the equipment and software. The device captures and filters utterances displaying a graphic result instantly on a computer screen. Language has no bearing on the outcome as the device captures frequency produced by subconscious physiological reaction in the body to relevant questions. When a subject senses that a truthful answer could lead to unwanted consequences such as punishment or jeopardy, the body subconsciously reacts and gives off minute frequency changes in various parts of the body.
The last time he spoke, he noted the FVSA had been used in tests in several countries. Further, he said at that time there had been no inconclusive results since its inception; and that is still the case. It has now been used for cold case interviews, pre-employment checks, due diligence matters, evaluating integrity, and investigations. One area John previously mentioned it would be a great asset is in customs and immigration border clearance. John said it is now in use in one country, but he wouldn’t mention the name. Further, they now have the border detection software where it takes only 30 seconds for the border clearance official to have enough results to make a decision.
Member Ren, Chair Pat, John Ryan and his wife chat after the meeting.
He said the FVSA is now in use by the governments in Brunei, Singapore, USA, and Malaysia. It has been used for testing in India, Colombia, and Philippines; exposing murders in Philippines, sex crime cold case in India, and organized crime by Military in Colombia. It is also in process of being acquired by two federal agencies and several law enforcement departments in the USA. Further, ITVTI is now developing its own Internet server to supply FVSA pre-employment tests online. He believes this will supply a boon to recruitment for any organization requiring veracity in hiring and promotion.
In concluding his presentation, John called on a club member to help him demonstrate how the device works. He asked the volunteer to answer a few specific questions, first with an untruthful answer, then again with a truthful answer. He displayed the results on the large screen to show how the FVSA displays the results.
John will be back on December 2 to talk about the case that resulted in his book, I Survived, about which he says: “My whole life has been surviving adventures; this was one of the earliest and deadliest.”
MC Richard Silverberg provided an update on upcoming events and called on Jerry Dean to conduct the Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about Expat living in Thailand; Pattaya in particular.
You can learn more about the PCEC and its many activities by visiting their website at ww.pattayacityexpatsclub.com.
