Fifteen people are in a special class at the Highway Patrol Academy learning how to use lie detectors.  One of them is studying to become the first of his kind. 

The National Polygraph Academy is partnering with the Highway Patrol with a twelve-week polygraph examiners course.  Most of the people attending are law enforcement officers.  Then there’s Craig Gubbins, the Director of Personal Verification, a pre-employment background screening company in Aukland, New Zealand.   

Craig Gubbins was a New Zealand Intelligence Officer before going into private business.  There are no polygraphs in his country.  He would become the first lie detector operator–ever–in New Zealand.   He’ll use his 400 hours of training for law enforcement and private business when he goes home.  Most of the inquiries his company has received concern marital fidelity. “A polygraph is essentially the only way to get finality about accusations, ” he says. 

Courts have ruled polygraph evidence is questionable in this country.  There are no laws against its use  in New Zealand. But Gubbins is sure the issue will be tested once he takes one home with him. 

AUDIO: Gubbins interview 12:18