The newly installed Prison Boss Colonel Trevor Pennyfeather has requested that all staff undergo voluntary lie detector tests as part of efforts to address issues of integrity at His Majesty’s Prisons.

Over the years prison officers have been accused of transporting contraband into the prisons for inmates.

“There are several situations within His Majesty’s Prison that would lend to the conclusion that there must be some form of integrity issues with officers within the prison. Now, the prison consists of a little over 100 officers at various levels, so I have chosen to begin with the leaders and they have voluntarily agreed to take the tests, given the circumstances that we are facing,” Pennyfeather reportedly told NewsCo

He said “The questions have to do with integrity, so … any questions that would lend to individuals violating the critical regulations within the prison, the officers would have to answer those questions definitively, and then from that, we will make a decision”

He said the polygraph tests are currently ongoing starting at the top.

“I have begun with my senior officers, those who are civil servants, and there are about 16 who qualify for that but we are yet to have the results of those tests,”

Pennyfeather told the media house that although the test is voluntary, there is still some hesitancy among the junior staff. He said however he is confident that there will be full complacency going forward.

“If the officer fails the test, then it is up to the Ministry of Public Safety to do what is required and that would be, at the very least, transference to another area within the Ministry or outside of the Ministry. It depends on the area within the test that they would have failed that would lend to [the implication] that there is a form of deception”

Prison officers are being questioned solely on issues of integrity, he said.

According to Wikipedia, a polygraph, most commonly referred to as a lie detector, is a machine that is used by law enforcement to test the physiological responses of individuals to certain questions. 

“Polygraphs are used under the theory that most people do not lie or deceive without some feelings of anxiety or nervousness”

“This stems from the idea that most people either feel bad that they are lying or are afraid that they will get caught or will be in trouble if they lie.  It is this fear and guilt that produces the anxiety and nervousness”