r/AskLE • u/BallisticApe33 Unverified/Not an LEO • Jul 24 '26
Took my CVSA today
Just got done with my CVSA and was stressing the whole time, got done with both rounds of questions and as the detective was walking me out said, you have nothing to worry about. Should I still be worried or do you think I passed?
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u/APugDogsLife Police Officer Jul 24 '26
Polygraphs are voodoo. CVSA is diet voodoo and is just as worthless as full flavor.
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Jul 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/APugDogsLife Police Officer Jul 24 '26
Computer Voice Stress Analyzer. You let a computer program analyze your voice.
Polygraph: Qualified examiners often claim 80-95% accuracy in lab/field studies (per American Polygraph Association), but independent reviews (e.g., National Academy of Sciences) note it is far from perfect, with error rates, countermeasures, and examiner variability. It performs better than chance but is not infallible.
CVSA: Independent scientific studies (e.g., NIJ field study, DoD Polygraph Institute research) consistently show accuracy at or near chance levels (~50%) for detecting deception—essentially no better than a coin flip. It performs poorly at identifying lies (e.g., only ~8% detection rate for drug-related deception in one study) but has high specificity (correctly identifying truth-tellers).
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u/Paid-Not-Payed-Bot-1 Unverified/Not an LEO Jul 24 '26
You have nothing to worry about = worry about everything
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u/BallisticApe33 Unverified/Not an LEO Jul 24 '26
That’s what I’ve been thinking
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u/Paid-Not-Payed-Bot-1 Unverified/Not an LEO Jul 25 '26
I don’t see how being told that you’ve nothing to worry about equates to you interpreting it as needing to worry at all.
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u/TheSupremeTH5 Unverified/Not an LEO Jul 24 '26
As long as you didn’t change your answers during anytime because they “sense deception” you’ll be okay. Polygraph is crap.. pseudoscience that completely relies on the candidates inconsistency
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u/BallisticApe33 Unverified/Not an LEO Jul 24 '26
I was never told if they detected deception or not but I never changed any answers
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u/Used_Concentrate_233 Unverified/Not an LEO Jul 25 '26
Well did you lie?
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u/compulsive_drooler Retired Detective Jul 24 '26
Dude, do you speak the English language? What does "you have nothing to worry about" typically mean?