Gatekeeper : memoirs of a CIA polygraph examiner / John F. Sullivan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sullivan, John F., 1939-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sullivan, John F., 1939-.

Sullivan, John F.

United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

Polygraph operators--United States--Biography.

Polygraph operators.

United States. Central Intelligence Agency--Officials and employees--Biography.

United States.

Intelligence service--United States.

Intelligence service.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 273 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Potomac Books, [2007]

Summary:

John F. Sullivan was a polygraph examiner with the CIA for thirty-one years, during which time he conducted more tests than anyone in the history of the CIA's program.The lie detectors act as the Agency's gatekeepers, preventing foreign agents, unsuitable applicants, and employees guilty of misconduct from penetrating or harming the Agency. Here Sullivan describes his methods, emphasizing the importance of psychology and the examiners' skills in a successful polygraph program. Sullivan acknowledges that using the polygraph effectively is an art as much as a science, yet he convincingly argues that it remains a highly reliable screening device, more successful and less costly than the other primary method, background investigation. In the thousands of tests that Sullivan conducted, he discovered double agents, applicants with criminal backgrounds, and employee misconduct, including compromising affairs and the mishandling of classified information. But

Contents:

Introduction : The art of the polygraph

The path less traveled

In the beginning

The Crawford era

First impressions

A new day

Hard (but exciting) times

Respite

The new breed

The era of good feeling

Coming of age

Bad apples

Hits, misses, and distractions

Aldrich Ames

Twilight

Out to pasture

Intelligence community and 9/11

Interrogation and torture.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

159797045X

9781597970457

OCLC:

69992375