Texas Association Of Law Enforcement Polygraph Investigators

Thanks to all who attended this year’s annual TALEPI conference. Most of all, thank you for assisting in one of the largest American Polygraph Association Conferences in history. The board also extends its thanks to those who attended the annual business meeting and voted on our new officers. We congratulate newly elected Vice President Robert Young, Secretary/Treasurer Rodney Evans and Board Member Jon Thornhill. Janice Harrison and Walt Goodson continue to serve in their positions as members of the Board of Directors and Matt Hicks was elected as President.

Feedback regarding the conference was positive and on an even better note, most members conveyed that our traditional TALEPI conference training was on par with training received during the APA conference. Our goal moving forward is to use the APA 2012 Validated Principles as a springboard for the TALEPI association during the course of this next year. As such, the 2012 conference will center itself around ensuring that our membership receives the necessary training to meet professional standards.

The TALEPI board is diligently planning the TALEPI 2012 conference. As stated during our annual business meeting, the decision has been made to meet in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We will notify membership in early November regarding the exact conference location and a tentative conference schedule.

The board is already hard at work addressing several issues with TDLR. In the immediate future we will provide written support to TDLR regarding license and fee reductions. We also set a November deadline for completion of a proposal that would address Decision Terminology, Continuing Education Requirements, Recognized Polygraph Schools, Required Minimum Instrumentation, and CIT issues.

In addition to these items Director Janice Harrison will continue actively seeking out quality candidates for the Tim Kennedy Award and Bill Taylor Award. Our goal is to provide membership an opportunity to vote on these awards. Please send in nominations on your fellow examiners so their hard work can be recognized. If you would like to help in generating awards nominations, please contact Janice.

In closing, I would like to challenge each member of this organization to become more active and involved in our association. Our success and growth hinges upon each member’s willingness to become better and not settle for just being good. As we move forward, I invite you to engage the board and contribute to the continued success of TALEPI.

Thank you,

Matt Hicks, President

I hope that each and every one of you is doing well. I’m so excited about our upcoming seminar to be held in Austin, Texas September 11-16, 2011 at the Austin Downtown Hilton. For specific details about the conference please visit the American Polygraph Association (APA) web site www.polygraph.org or the TALEPI web site www.talepi.org. The APA website has all the information about the conference including hotel information and the schedule of training. As you know, last year the TALEPI membership voted to co-host the APA Conference. Last week, the TALEPI officers and I met with APA Seminar Chair Mike Gougler regarding this conference and I would like to highlight some of the items we discussed.

One of the first things you will see on the seminar schedule is that there will be classes on Sunday from 1pm to 5 pm. These classes were placed in the schedule because many of you are at the conference site on Sunday but need to leave early on Friday. Leaving early on Friday causes a problem for some who need continuing education hours. Well, worry about that no longer because that has been taken care of for you. You will also see, on the schedule, that Mike did an excellent job organizing classes specific to law enforcement examiners. Mike also scheduled classes for examiners involved in sex offender testing as well as those interested in polygraph research.

The APA conference will have plenty to do after hours as well. Tuesday night for $15.00 you will be able to take a coach to the Salt Lick Barb-b-que to have all you can eat barbeque brisket, pork ribs, sausage, and chicken. There will also be live entertainment from a country western band. TALEPI has organized the beverages to be served at this event. The APA will also have a wonderful banquet on Thursday night and will incorporate the presentation of our Examiner of the year award and the Lifetime Achievement Award into the APA awards ceremony. Please send nominations for these awards to Janice Marshall. Her e-mail address is [jmar211@yahoo.com]. APA will also host a hospitality suite at the hotel if you would like to have evening refreshments and a more social environment for networking.

TALEPI will have adequate opportunities to have exposure at the conference; from having TALEPI officers instructing, singing the national anthem, and having TALEPI officers and members recognized for their presence at the banquet. We will have a membership table at the conference that will be staffed by TALEPI members from 8 am to 5 pm Mon thru Thursday and Friday till 3pm. TALEPI will also have a presence during registration on Sunday and Monday so that polygraph examiners from around the globe will have an opportunity to learn about our association and join if they wish.

As a reminder, all current members of TALEPI will have their dues waived this year. Those who wish to join TALEPI will need to pay $25.00 for a new membership. We believe that many examiners in attendance of the conference will join TALEPI and give our organization a great opportunity to grow its membership due to the low cost quality training that we offer.

Also remember that the TALEPI business meeting will be held during the conference and we will be voting on new officer positions for President, Vice President, Secretary Treasurer, and a board position as well. That meeting will be on Wed at 3 pm September 14^th. We will also be discussing the 2012 TALEPI conference. TALEPI officers will present plans for holding the conference in the Dallas Ft .Worth area. Further details on this conference are forthcoming.

As you can see this conference has a lot to offer in training and also in entertainment. Please mark your calendar to attend this VERY worthwhile conference.

Folks interested in the next TALEPI seminar, have been sending e-mails regarding the seminar next year. Last summer during the 2010 TALEPI business meeting it was discussed and voted on by the membership to have the 2011 seminar in conjunction with the American Polygraph Association Seminar (APA). We also decided that current member’s membership dues would be waived for 2011. New members will still be required to pay $25.00 to join TALEPI.

On another note we desperately need our membership to send our Membership committee nominations for the Bill Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award and the Tim Kennedy Polygraph Examiner of the Year Award. Last year Director Janice Marshall and her committee did an outstanding job retrieving nominations and they are ready to take on the task again. Their information is as follows:

The 2011 American Polygraph Association Annual Seminar will be held at the Austin Hilton, located at 500 East 4th St. in Austin, Texas, from September 11-16 2011.

We are currently working on a Pre Registration form for easy downloading and preparation but coordination with the APA Admin folks needs to be completed.

On a sad note, John Carruthers, TDCJ Polygraph supervisor, the TALEPI 2009 "Bill Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award" recipient, passed away on March 12, 2011 from a fatal heart attack.

We have lost another great and experienced examiner and long time TALEPI member from our Texas polygraph family. TALEPI sent a money contribution to one of John’s charities.

We as a TALEPI family send John’s family our condolences. John will be missed.

Please come back in a few days - we'll get the seminar info posted as soon as we all have settled on one.

Things are starting to get real busy with the officers and myself getting ready for the next TALEPI conference. This year’s conference will not be held at the Texas Department of Public Safety Academy as in years past, the 2010 TALEPI Conference will be held on July 19-23, 2010 at the Williamson Conference Center and Wingate Inn, by Wyndham

Due to dormitory closures at the Texas Department of Public Safety Training Academy, the 2010 TALEPI Conference will be held at the Williamson Conference Center and Wingate Inn, by Wyndham. We hope you are as excited about the change in venue as the elected officers are. Based on the success of this conference, we are optimistic that we will be able to hold future annual TALEPI conferences in other areas of the State. The conference center and hotel are only minutes from the Round Rock Express Ballpark as well as numerous other great restaurants and entertainment venues. We need to fill at least thirty (30) rooms at the hotel in order to use the conference center at no cost to the association. Based on the number of rooms that we occupy we will be entitled to more complementary services. So please choose to stay at the Williamson Conference Center and Wingate Inn, by Wyndham.

We have chosen emphasize pre-employment related issues for the 2010 TALEPI Conference. The Directed Lie Screen Test (DLST) and Law Enforcement Pre-Employment Testing (LEPET) will be instructed by Raymond Nelson and Ester Harwell. Raymond Nelson will also be presenting a course on the Validity and Reliability of Polygraph Testing. An eight (8) hour Interview and Interrogation class will be instructed by ATF Agent Mike Bryant with an emphasis on Cognitive Interviewing for Victim’s and Witnesses. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) will also be present for interaction and feedback from the association. Each of these issues are great areas for learning and application that have not been addressed in the last several years during the TALEPI conferences.

The cost of the conference will be $175.00. Mail outs will be sent soon to the current members. We will be changing our Post Office address so that our Secretary/Treasure can receive the mail in her home town. Please keep a watchful eye for that new address. Early registration will be rewarded with a gift from TALEPI. The gift will be given to those who early register at the conference. Early registration will close on July 1, 1010.

As a reminder, we would like to have as many nominations for award recipient as soon as possible. Please send those names and cases to any elected officer so that the good work that our members are doing can be officially recognized by the association.

We look forward to seeing each of you in July and hope that you will find the 2010 TALEPI Conference as a good source of education, fellowship and entertainment.

Wow!!!!! I am very humbled to be your President for the next two (2) years. I know that I have very big shoes to fill. I have had the privilege of working with Walt Goodson these past two (2) years and I hope that I can be half as good as our former president. I would like to take this time to thank Walt for his service to this organization for the past three (3) years. Through his leadership we have seen real positive change; especially in the quality of instructors that we have had these past three (3) years. Walt has been there for many things that have challenged our profession such as remote sponsorship. Walt and other members were a part of the Ad-hoc committee that helped lead the fight to get that situation resolved. I know that I will be calling Walt for advice over these next two (2) years to make sure that TALEPI continues to be a voice for the polygraph profession and that we provide the best training that we can afford.

Another person who decided to leave his office was Earl Sturrock. Earl was our former Secretary/Treasurer. Earl was very vigilant in his duties and did a very good job keeping our books and keeping us out of trouble with the IRS. Next to Walt Earl was the hardest working person in our organization. Earl brought to the table a lot of wisdom and we appreciated his advice. Earl felt that he was not going to be around enough this year to do the job he wanted to do for TELEPI, therefore he stepped down. We thank you Earl for you service and devotion to this organization.

We had a great turn out this year on attendance for the 2009 TALEPI conference. Our total this year was 80. This year we held elections for President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasure, and a Board Position. Congratulations to our new officers who were elected during our annual board meeting. Myself Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Intelligence Service Sergeant Brian Vaughan for President; Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Intelligence Service Sergeant Matt Hicks, Vice President; TDCJ Office of the Inspector General Investigator Colleen Eckert, Secretary Treasure; and Killeen Police Sergeant Pat Boone has taken on another three (3) year term for board of director. The membership still has Jim Morgan and Janice Harrison for board directors. I am very excited to be working with these fine people. I can tell you this group of people has hit the ground running. Three (3) very important committees were established by the group. Matt Hicks is heading up our TDLR Ad-Hoc committee, Pat Boone is heading up our membership committee, and Janice Harrison is heading up our awards committee. I was also impressed at the interest the membership showed in joining the committees and here is a list of the people who have joined the committees:

As you can see I have supplied you with contact information for the committee members. Please contact these people if you have suggestions that will help them with there respective areas. We want to utilize these committees to there potential. So please help them out by supplying them with your suggestions.

This year we had some very good suggestions for consideration for the Bill Taylor Award and the Tim Kennedy award. After consideration by the board membership the recipient for the Tim Kennedy award went to Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Intelligence Service Sergeant Matt Hicks and the Bill Taylor award went to TDCJ Office of Inspector General Lieutenant John Carruthers.

We had an additional award this year that went to John Thornhill of the Tyler Police Department. John won our 2009 TALEPI bowler of the year. This award was given after a scheduled night out that 15 of our TALEPI members participated in. We had a great time doing this night out having good fellowship mixed with competitiveness and a few laughs here and there. Next year we would like have more of the memberships attend our outing.

An important by law change was voted upon this year by the membership. Retired members are now eligible to run for office. I believe this new change will allow very qualified people who are interested in our profession to have an active part in TALEPI. A retired member is described as any former active member of TALEPI who retires honorably from his/her agency. Keep this in mind next year and following years to come when an office comes open for TALEPI.

I am very excited about being a part of the very worthwhile organization. If I can ever be of assistance to any of you, or if you have any suggestions for me, please don’t hesitate to call. My office phone number is 830-258-5724 and my e-mail address is david.vaughan@txdps.state.tx.us.

Attached is schedule for the upcoming TALEPI conference and seminar to be held June 29^th to July 3^rd, 2009 at the Texas DPS Training Academy in Austin, Texas. This will be a 36 hour seminar. The cost is $175 and includes meals and lodging at the DPS Training Academy if you want them as well as baseball tickets and a meal at a Round Rock Express baseball game. I wanted to get this information to the membership as soon as I could so each of you could make plans to attend this training. As you can see by our instructor line-up this will be an absolute first class week of instruction. Soon to follow, you will be receiving a more detailed agenda of the conference training and activities by mail and email including registration information. Please help me get the word out about this seminar by forwarding this information to any polygraph examiner who might benefit from this training.

Thanks to all that attended the 2008 TALEPI Conference in Austin. Attendance at this year’s conference increased from eighty-seven (87) attendees in 2007 to ninety-four (94) in 2008. Special thanks to such an outgoing Director, Michele Cianci, whose dedication and assistance will be greatly missed. Work is already underway for the 2009 Conference which is currently scheduled for June 29^th to July 3^rd at the DPS Training Academy in Austin, Texas.

Congratulations to our new officer Janice Harrison, of the Port Arthur Police Department, who was elected to a Director’s position during our business meeting. Ms. Harrison is a former TALEPI Vice-President and her experience will be a great asset to the organization.

Also, I want to take time to congratulate our annual award winners. The TALEPI Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dr. Antonio Suarez Barrio for his life long dedication to the polygraph profession. Dr. Barrio’s accomplishments are countless in his 48 years as a polygraph examiner including founding TALEPI and the American Association of Police Polygraphists (AAPP).

The Tim Kennedy Examiner of the Year Award was presented to Sergeant Don Clendennen of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Sergeant Clendennen was unanimously selected for this award by the TALEPI awards committee after learning that Sergeant Clendennen on several occasions uncovered additional criminal acts through the use of the polygraph as well as on one occasion using information he received from a polygraph interview to prevent a probable deadly situation. Congratulations to both of these deserving examiners for a job well done.

One change that was discussed and supported during the business meeting was to add the names and contact information of our members to the TALEPI website. This was done in an effort to enhance our networking between examiners as well as to show the strength of our organization through a large visible membership. Please stroll around our site and submit suggestions for its improvement as well as anything else you would like to see on the site.

Overall we received a large amount of positive feedback about the conference, especially relating to the instructors and the Thursday night outing at the Dell Diamond. Based on this feedback, the Officers and Directors of TALEPI are currently making plans for the 2009 training conference continuing on this same track. We will strive to make even more improvements for next year with top flight instructors and another trip to the ballpark. TALEPI is financially sound so registration fees again will be around $150.00.

The general idea for next year’s conference will be gleaning more information from the polygraph examination. The past few conferences focused on honing our skills behind the polygraph instrument and I think we have received solid training in this area. However, it has always been my philosophy that a good examiner can determine whether a person is employing deception but it takes a great examiner to find out what is the actual truth.

Please contact the conference Chairman, Sergeant Brian Vaughan, at brian.vaughan@txdps.state.tx.us if you have any suggestions for training topics, ideas for the conference or have a nomination for a TALEPI award.

The Officers and Directors look forward to serving the membership and to seeing you at next years training conference, which again is scheduled for June 29^th through July 3^rd, 2009. Letters will go out at the beginning of the year. Make your plans to attend now, I promise you will not be disappointed!

The 2008 TALEPI conference and seminar is all set and this year’s curriculum will rival any polygraph training conference in the country. The conference will be held June 23^rd through the 27^th at the Texas DPS Academy located at 5805 N. Lamar, Austin, Texas 78758. The conference will begin at 10:00 AM on June 23^rd. This year we are honored to have Special Agent Skip Webb, Special Agent Pam Shaw, Dr. Tony Barrio, Mr. T.V. O’Malley, Assistant Commander Mike Gougler and Retired Captain Chris Bratton presenting at this year’s conference. Texas Polygraph Examiners Board Presiding Officer and past TALEPI President Andy Sheppard will also be present during the seminar to answer questions and discuss recent changes to the Texas Polygraph Examiners Act. Please see the attached course schedule for the complete curriculum of this year’s conference.

The officers of TALEPI took the course evaluations for the 2007 seminar very serious and have made every effort to make the changes to the seminar and present instruction in the topics the membership requested. All have worked hard to put together a quality conference with first class instructors throughout and thus we anticipate a large turnout this year. Therefore please register early to ensure you will receive all the conference materials when you arrive.

The registration fee for the 2008 conference is $150.00 in advance, $175.00 the day of the conference so please register early. The conference fee includes annual TALEPI membership dues, meals (Monday breakfast through Friday lunch) and lodging at the DPS Training Academy, giveaways, and the Thursday evening awards dinner at the Dell Diamond including reserved baseball tickets for the Round Rock Express. Registrants may secure lodging at the DPS Training Academy starting at 5:00 PM Sunday, June 22^nd. For those opting to stay in an area hotel, the Best Western Atrium North and La Quinta are offering the best rates. See the attached list of hotels for information on these and other hotels in the area giving discounts to conference attendees.

This year’s conference training materials will again be presented to the registrants in an electronic format. Conference attendee’s again will be seated behind tables and are encouraged to bring a laptop computer to review the materials during class. Registrants may still receive the printed materials they indicate such on the application form during early registration. Wireless web access will also be available during lunch and breaks.

I strongly encourage those TALEPI members whom are unable to attend the 2008 conference and those who would like to become an active or associate member of TALEPI to return the enclosed application/registration/renewal form with a check or money order for twenty five dollars ($25.00). Members who have not paid their dues by June 30, 2008 will be removed from the membership roster and not be listed as members on the TALEPI website. Remember that any Texas Licensed Examiner that is employed by a corrections or law enforcement agency in Texas is eligible for active membership in TALEPI. Anyone employed by a law enforcement agency of another state or territory of the United States or of a governmental agency of the United States, a Texas Licensed Examiner who is honorably retired from a governmental agency, or a Texas Licensed Examiner who conducts polygraph for any criminal justice agency in the State of Texas who is in commercial practice as a private examiner is eligible to become an associate member of TALEPI. Law enforcement examiners make up a large portion of polygraph examiners in Texas and we have strength in numbers so please renew your membership or join TALEPI today.

Again, it has been an honor to serve the membership of TALEPI and I look forward to seeing you in June.

Thanks to all in attendance of the 2007 conference in Austin and thanks for the vote of confidence in re-electing me to another term as President of TALEPI. Attendance at this year’s conference was over double of the previous year and the positive feedback toward the training and overall conference experience was overwhelming. Also, special thanks to outgoing Vice President Janice Harrison and Secretary/Treasurer Burton Golden for their time and effort in making this conference one to remember. As President, I am very aware that the enemy of “good” is “better,” however I can’t leave well enough alone and I vow that the 2008 conference will be even bigger and “better.”

Congratulations to our new officers who were elected during our annual board meeting. Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Intelligence Service Sergeant Brian Vaughan was elected as Vice-President. Retired Deer Park Police Department Captain Earl Sturrock was elected as Secretary/Treasurer and Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Intelligence Service Sergeant James Morgan was re-elected to the TALEPI board of directors to continue to serve with Michele Cianci and Patrick Boone.

Also, I want to take time to congratulate our annual award winners. The TALEPI Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Morris Covin for his life long dedication to the polygraph profession. Over nearly forty years in the profession, Morris has cleared countless criminal cases, interned and trained thirty new polygraph examiners and served as an officer in the Texas Association of Polygraph Examiners and the American Association of Police Polygraphists.

The Tim Kennedy Examiner of the Year Award was presented to Detective Ramiro Montoya of the Houston Police Department. Over the past several years Detective Montoya has conducted over 1000 law enforcement related polygraph exams and has cleared many significant cases including a significant murder investigation earlier this year. Congratulations to both of these deserving examiners for a job well done.

During the annual business meeting there were several items voted on which include changes to the TALEPI by-laws. For further details of these items including the changes to the by-laws please see the by-laws and 2007 business meeting minutes posted on this site. The changes to the by-laws are highlighted in red. One change to the by-laws that was passed was changing the terms of President, Vice-President and Secretary/Treasurer from one year to two years. These changes will sync the officer’s terms with the legislative sessions and give the TALEPI officers more of an opportunity to forward the TALEPI membership interests to the legislature and well as giving the officers more time to adjust to their role as an officer and better serve the membership.

A second change that was voted on and supported was to begin billing statements to the TALEPI membership. For the past several years, attending the conference was all a member needed to do to stay a member of TALEPI because the membership dues were included in the annual conference fees. However, when a member did not attend the annual conference there was no invoice sent requiring the member to pay their dues and subsequently, few members did so.

Therefore, in an effort to legitimize our membership rolls, invoicing will begin next year. The invoice will be sent out in the spring of each year and will include an opportunity to pay for the upcoming conference, which as always will include your membership dues. If then you do not attend the conference and do not pay your membership dues you will be removed from the TALEPI membership rolls. Former members will have to pay the annual membership dues in addition to conference fees to attend the annual training conference. Also, in an effort to attract new membership, first time TALEPI conference attendees will receive discounted conference fees.

A second change which was voted on by the membership was to allow for free training conferences for the current officers and directors of TALEPI. Free conferences will reward the officers their departments for their service to the membership as well as serving as an incentive to hold these offices.

A change that was not supported by the membership was to separate the Secretary/Treasurer position into two positions. This may be something to reconsider in future meeting as the duties of this position increases along with the association membership.

Paris Police Department Sergeant Burton Golden was also honored during the business meeting by being unanimously voted in as a Life Member of TALEPI. Sergeant Golden was so honored for his years of service as the TALEPI Secretary/Treasurer.

Prior to the Business Meeting the letter below was drafted, signed by the overwhelming majority of the TALEPI membership in attendance at the conference, and sent to the Texas Polygraph Examiners Board:

The membership of the Texas Association of Law Enforcement Polygraph Investigators sends their greetings and good will. We offer the following with no particular grievance or bias against any member of the Board.

During the business meeting of the annual conference this week, there was discussion within the membership of proposed rules changes regarding Intern Examiners. After consideration and discussion, the Membership voted to forward to the Board the following recommendations:

1. We feel that remote sponsorship as currently implemented by the Board is effective and there is not sufficient data to show any need for change. We also feel that the proposed change would adversely affect many Texas law enforcement agencies’ ability to license new polygraph examiners and ultimately reduce the number of licensed law enforcement polygraph examiners.

2. Board rules governing the testing of interns on the academic and scenario phases of the exam upon completion of basic polygraph school allow for the Intern Sponsor to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the individual intern and for the sponsor to prioritize the intern’s continued training. We feel that current the current rules are appropriate. No benefit has been identified in making the interns wait several months to take these portions of the exam, nor have any problems been brought to light that would merit this change.

3. The Board has already approved core curriculum for recognized polygraph schools. Therefore, we see no benefit in re-testing the intern over the same material.

4. It is our position that the current academic portion of the licensing exam needs to be updated. However, we do not believe it needs to be expanded past the current Occupational Code 1703. It is also our position, that if the scope of the licensing exam is broadened to go beyond Occupation Code 1703, the exam be independently evaluated for validity.

We, the membership of TALEPI, would appreciate the Board’s consideration of these matters.

On 08-13-2007, the Texas Polygraph Examiners Board held their quarterly board meeting in which changes to the intern sponsorship were discussed which the membership of TALEPI felt would adversely affect law enforcement agencies ability to train new polygraph examiners. During the meeting, Mr. Kelley Hendricks, Texas DPS Assistant Commander Mike Gougler, Texas DPS Captain John Bateman, Harris Co. SO Deputy James Hawkins Mr. Earl Sturrock, Texas DPS Sergeant Brian Vaughan, Retired Round Rock PD Detective Joe Klingensmith and myself spoke out against these changes during the public comment forum. The changes were ultimately voted down by the Texas Polygraph Examiners Board.

The officers and directors of TALEPI are currently making plans for the 2008 training conference. If you have any ideas for training topics or other ideas for the conference or have a nomination for a TALEPI award; please contact conference chairman Sergeant Brian Vaughan at brian.vaughan@txdps.state.tx.us The officers and directors look forward to serving the membership and look forward to seeing you at next year’s training conference which is scheduled for June 23^rd to June 28^th, 2008. Letters will go out at the beginning of the year. Make your plans to attend now, I promise you will not be disappointed.

The annual TALEPI conference and seminar is all set and this year’s training will be the best yet! The conference will be held on June 18^th through the 22^nd at the Texas DPS Academy located at 5805 N. Lamar, Austin, Texas 78758. This year’s training was coordinated with the goal of improving our uniformity as law enforcement examiners and honing our skills in the examination room. To accomplish this we are honored to have Dr. Charles Honts from Boise State University, Bob Cole from the Defense Academy for Credibility Assessment, and Assistant Commander Mike Gougler and Sergeant Brian Vaughan from the Texas DPS instructing this year.

The registration fee for this year’s conference is $150.00 in advance, $175.00 the day of the conference so please register early. The conference fee includes the annual TALEPI membership, meals and lodging at the DPS Training Academy, giveaways, and the Thursday evening banquet dinner. Registrants may secure lodging at the DPS Training Academy starting at 5:00 PM Sunday, June 17^th. For those opting to stay in an area hotel, the Best Western located at 7928 Gessner Drive Austin, TX 78753 (512) 339-7311 has offered a rate of $52.90 which includes a hot breakfast and a Tuesday and Wednesday Happy Hour from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM. Further hotel and conference information can be found at www.talepi.org.

TALEPI was founded to provide quality training at a reasonable cost. Therefore this year’s conference training materials will be presented to the registrants in an electronic format (USB key). Conference attendee’s this year will be seated behind tables and are encouraged to bring a laptop computer to review the materials during class. Registrants may still receive the printed materials they indicate such on the application form during early registration. Wireless web access will also be available during lunch and breaks.

The officers of TALEPI have worked hard to put together a first class conference and we anticipate a large turnout this year. Therefore please register early to guarantee you will receive all the conference materials when you arrive. It has been an honor to serve TALEPI and I look forward to seeing you in June.

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On February 2, 2007, TALEPI Officers Walt Goodson, President; Janice Harrison, Vice President and Patrick Boone, Director met in Houston to discuss the upcoming conference that will be held at the Texas Department of Public Safety Training Academy June 18^th through June 22^nd, 2007. The following agenda items were discussed during the meeting:

The one thing that was very clear to us during this meeting is that while TALEPI is a strong organization there is a lot of work to be done. First and foremost is the annual seminar. TALEPI exists primarily to provide quality polygraph training at a reasonable price for all law enforcement polygraph examiners so that’s where we are placing our focus. And as I already promised, this year’s seminar will rival any other training you have attended. So make plans to attend now and help us get the word out about this seminar.

The goal of this year’s training is to conduct a hands-on, back to the basics training seminar from which everyone in attendance will take something away that will immediately improve the quality of their examinations. Therefore, we are very excited to announce that Dr. Charles Honts from Boise State University will be lecturing on the Utah Zone Technique, polygraph countermeasure detection and recent polygraph technique validation studies. Texas DPS Assistant Commander and American Polygraph Association (APA) Vice President of Law Enforcement Mike Gougler will cover Test Question Formulation and APA Standards of Practice for Law Enforcement Polygraph Testing. Texas DPS Sergeant Brian Vaughan will cover Pre-test interview techniques. We are also working with the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute to have their instructors teach the latest Test Data Analysis criteria, Utilization of Interpreters and the Concealed Information Test.

An exact schedule will be published on the website in the coming weeks along with local hotel recommendations. Advance registration fees are $150.00 and include your annual membership dues and meals and lodging at the Texas DPS Training Academy. To register, please complete the registration application located in the seminar page of this website. Please complete the registration form and mail it along with a $150.00 check or money order, made payable to TALEPI, to Sergeant Burton Golden at the address listed on the bottom of the application. Please make every effort to register early due to limited lodging space this year. We are anticipating a very large turnout and we would like to have a good idea of attendance to plan for door prizes and other giveaways. Late registration will begin at the Texas DPS Training Academy at 8:00 AM. This year, the fee for late registration will be $175.00.

We are also considering presenting this year’s material in an electronic format. Printing is historically one of the biggest expenses when it comes to seminars. Last year the American Association of Police Polygraphists (AAPP) presented their handout materials in an electronic format and it was well received. Doing this presents a substantial savings to the Association which allows us to improve the quality of the conference by redirecting those savings into other areas. Personally, I have several manuals from training seminars of years past and I rarely open them, however I did find that I referred to the computerized materials I received at the AAPP seminar more often because they were more convenient. We have not settled on this as of yet but even if we do, printed materials and notebooks will be available for those who request them.

Finally, we are working in awards and the TALEPI website and this is where I request the assistance of our membership. Please take time to send your recommendations for the Polygraph Examiner of the Year Award to me at walt.goodson@txdps.state.tx.us.

Also, send any input as to what type of features you would like to see on the TALEPI website. I would like to see our past award recipients and officers honored on the site along with a message board for members to post comments, questions, polygraph equipment etc.

Thank you for your support of TALEPI and I hope to see everyone at this year’s conference. Register early because the conference is going to be bigger and better that ever.

Well, another successful conference is in the history books and intense planning is already underway to make the next conference bigger and better than ever.

As the new President, I want to sincerely thank the outgoing TALEPI President Kevin Schutte and Vice President Mark Pilsner for a job well done.

Despite many obstacles and limited resources, Kevin and Mark did a wonderful job of organizing and REORGANZING a conference that ran as smooth as silk. Everyone in attendance as always received great information and training and as always, enjoyed the fellowship and networking with their fellow examiners.

I also want to deeply thank Secretary/Treasurer Burton Golden for a tremendous job of carrying the burden maintaining the financial, membership and conference records of TALEPI.

This is an unbelievably time consuming, thankless job that Burton carries out with a smile on his face.

I am elated that I didn’t have to place Burton in the “outgoing” category as he will continue to serve TAPEPI for at least another term.

Let me take a moment to introduce the newly Officers and Director that will proudly serve TALEPI in the upcoming year as well as many years to come.

Janice Marshall Harrison of the Port Arthur Police Department was elected as Vice President.

Sergeant Burton Golden of the Paris Police Department was re-elected and will be serving in his fifth year as Secretary/Treasurer.

Killeen Police Department Sergeant Patrick Boone was re-elected to a Directors position after a tough election and campaign under the slogan “three more years.”

Texas Department of Public Safety Sergeants Michele Cianci and Jim Morgan will continue to serve their current three year terms as Directors.

TALEPI is in great financial shape and we currently have 45 members who have paid their 2006 membership dues.

This is good but it could be better when you consider that there are 227 licensed polygraph examiners in the State of Texas alone.

We members of TALEPI need to get the word out to all police examiners throughout the state that they are missing out on essential training and networking that will improve their effectiveness as examiners that is provided to them at a cost of a couple of tanks of gas.

If you know of any police examiners that are not a part of this organization, I challenge you talk to them about the benefits of being a member and encourage them to join and become active in TALEPI.

I feel that the easiest way to attract members to TALEPI is to put on a training conference that cannot afford to be missed.

The 2007 TALEPI conference is scheduled for June 18^th to June 22^nd, 2007 at the Texas DPS Training Academy in Austin, Texas.

I am currently in the beginning stages of coordinating with Texas Department of Public Safety Assistant Commander Mike Gougler to put together a “Senior Polygraph Examiner Certification Course.”

The curriculum of this course would be taught at the 2007 TALEPI Conference and those in attendance who successfully completed the curriculum would receive certification of the completion of this course from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The course would cover the fundamentals of polygraph as well as advanced techniques.

I myself have attended two of these courses and also have spoke to many examiners who have received this training and we all agree that it is the best training we have been exposed to as examiners. These type of courses have always been interactive “hands on” classes from which you will learn by seeing, hearing and doing. We hope to have the curriculum completed in the near future and it will be posted as soon as it is finalized.

One of the motions passed during the annual TALEPI Business Meeting was to develop a Lifetime Achievement Award.

I feel that some serious thought should go into the creation of this award and I will soon form a committee to write the standards for this award. So far, Michele Cianci and Patrick Boone have agreed to be a part of this committee.

If there are any other members out there that would like to serve on this committee please let me know.

Stuart was one of five examiners who were nominated for this prestigious award. Each of the five nominated examiners had made considerable contributions to the polygraph field though resolving significant cases via polygraph. However, Stuart’s work rose to the top and he was presented with the well deserved award.

I am a proud graduate of the Texas DPS Polygraph School and it makes me proud to see the successfulness of many former students throughout the United States. As I write, the 13th class of the Texas DPS Law Enforcement Polygraph School in completing its fifth week of training.

This will be the largest class to ever graduate from the DPS Polygraph School, with 26 students, and it will once again increase the number of Texas DPS Polygraph School alumni.

I think that a Texas DPS Polygraph School class reunion at the TALEPI conference would be a wonderful way to reunite and reminisce with former classmates, and re-live the wonderful experience of staying in the DPS dormitory.

Also, in an effort to increase the membership and attendance of the TALEPI conference we have started a competition so determine which graduating class can turn out in the largest numbers to the TALEPI conference. As an incentive, as if you really need another one, each member of the class with the largest turnout will receive a nice prize; so pick up the phone and encourage your old classmates to make plans to attend.

Between this reunion and the Senior Polygraph Examiner Certification training, this should be the biggest and best TALEPI seminar to date; so don’t miss out. Plans are also in the works to have an evening get together to further reunite and network with classmates and TALEPI members.

Please remember that if you did not attend the 2006 seminar, your 2006 dues have not been paid.

As you know TALEPI exists by the dues of its membership. If you have not paid your dues please do so by sending $25.00 to Sergeant Burton Golden, Paris Police Department, 811 Bonham Street, Paris, Texas 75460.

Thanks again to the members of TALEPI for giving me the opportunity to serve as your President. I vow to do everything I can to advance the mission of the organization, continually improve the quality of the training conferences and increase the strength of the organization through increased membership.

We welcome any questions relating to polygraph as well as any requests or recommendations to improve the organization and/or conference.