DEA agreed to no longer hire any applicant who fails a polygraph, collect a full review of any employee who previously had failed and ensure that all of those individuals take a new exam for any other position for which they apply within the agency.

DEA agreed to no longer hire any applicant who fails a polygraph, collect a full review of any employee who previously had failed and ensure that all of those individuals take a new exam for any other position for which they apply within the agency. Peter Dazeley / Getty Images

DEA has regularly hired applicants it flagged as lying on their polygraphs

The agency also faces allegations of nepotism in its lie detector testing and a watchdog is saying the issues require "immediate attention" from management.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has for years violated its own policy of ruling out for employment candidates who fail or cheat on a polygraph examination, according to a watchdog review, which found the agency created potential security risks and the perception of unfair hiring practices. 

The DEA has brought on 66 special agents and 11 intelligence research specialists who created a “significant response” during their required pre-employment lie-detector test—the term the agency uses to “indicate deception” during the exam—according to a mid-audit “management alert” sent on Wednesday by the Justice Department’s inspector general. Under a DEA policy established in 2019, any applicant who fails the test is disqualified for three years from the position and any other at the agency requiring a polygraph. 

Applicants for certain DEA positions are given two polygraph exams during the hiring process, one for national security and the other for general suitability. Questions relate to past drug use, criminal activities, truthfulness on application materials and other issues. DEA has used polygraphs since 1994, but only started requiring that applicants pass them as a precondition for a job offer in 2019. 

Human resources personnel for the agency told the auditors the 2019 policy only applied prospectively and it therefore continued to use the old procedures for any preexisting job posts. The IG found examples of applicants who failed polygraphs in 2020 and were onboarded as recently as 2021 or 2022, but the agency said they were applying to jobs originally posted before the policy change went into effect. The watchdog noted that dating back to at least 2016 DEA told applicants they had to pass screening exams. HR’s reasoning “runs contrary to the DEA job announcements,” the IG said. 

The IG also flagged that some employees disclosed legacy applicants related to current or former DEA employees were receiving special treatment with regard to the polygraphs. After the auditors initially informed agency officials about the issue earlier this year, DEA put out new guidance reminding staff to avoid nepotism in hiring. The watchdog said the reminder did not go far enough and DEA officials agreed to update and clarify the agency's nepotism policies. 

Polygraphs are used throughout the government, including for any individual seeking at least a top secret security clearance. Their effectiveness has been called into question by many groups and researchers, including the American Psychological Association. The IG said that while the policy remains in effect, it is incumbent upon the agency to enforce it. 

“Given the DEA’s determination that the successful passing of a polygraph examination is an important part of the hiring process,” the IG said, “these issues have resulted in potential security risks to DEA operations and the appearance of unfair hiring practices when individuals who have not completed the polygraph process are nonetheless hired by the DEA.”

The watchdog added the issue required "immediate attention" due to the "significant and unmitigated risks" presented by DEA's implementation. 

DEA agreed to no longer hire any applicant who fails a polygraph, collect a full review of any employee who previously had failed and ensure that all of those individuals take a new exam for any other position for which they apply within the agency. Still, Michael Ciminelli, DEA’s acting chief compliance officer, disputed the IG’s finding that the agency acted in contrast to its policy. Prior to 2019, he said, DEA made clear that a polygraph would never be a sole factor in rejecting a candidate. When implementing the change, he added, agency officials explicitly stated that it would not apply retroactively. 

“DEA has consistently followed the policy established in 2019 since its inception and will continue to do so,” Ciminelli said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.