The evaluation of the mandatory polygraph pilot.

This report presents the findings from research commissioned to examine the impact of

mandatory polygraph testing for sexual offenders released on licence and under supervision

by probation staff in two regions in England. Mandatory polygraph testing for adult sexual

offenders began in April 2009 across the East and West Midlands probation regions. The use

of the polygraph in these pilot regions was facilitated under the auspices of the Offender

Management Act 2007, which allowed offender managers to insert a polygraph testing

condition into the licences of offenders released from sentences of 12 months or more for

a sexual offence.

The University of Kent was commissioned to evaluate the pilot from 1 April 2010. The

evaluation described in this report refers to 332 ‘polygraph offenders’ who received a first

polygraph test or who were released into the pilot areas since that date. Research was also

undertaken on 303 offenders in seven probation trusts from two ‘comparison regions’, where

licence supervision did not include polygraph testing (‘comparison offenders’).

The research period described in this report covers 1 April 2010 to 21 December 2011.

These dates enabled a sufficient throughput of sexual offenders to yield a representative

research sample.