JOHN GROGAN, POLYGRAPH EXAMINER ?
Fraud or Legit ? You decide...
Is John Grogan a polygraph examiner, and is he a Fake, a Scam or Legit? The following profile has been assembled from documents which can be seen below. John Grogan markets himself as “The Lie Detector Guy” in the media and has administered countless exams at the request of media outlets, such as Dr. Phil and a bevy of reality shows. However, the information presented below strongly suggests that Mr. Grogan is not a Certified Polygraph Examiner – contrary to his advertising – and that he has never attended an Accredited polygraph training facility. We leave it up to the reader to evaluate Grogan’s credentials based on the documents presented here, or through other independent sources.
GROGAN EVOLUTION
2004 – Grogan (a former California private investigator) appears to have been given an “honorary” polygraph training certificate from American College of Forensic Studies (ACFS) – which has never been a polygraph school – after completing less than 100 hours of polygraph training, according to a letter written by ACFS owner Joseph Paolella. However, this letter also noted that the ACFS course taken by Grogan provided only the “basic knowledge of the theory and application of polygraph principles” and “was not meant to train a person to be a polygraph examiner.” Click to view the Paolella letter. The Paolella letter further states that Grogan was terminated from ACFS because of his “unauthorized advances towards female students.” (This letter is public record)
IMPORTANT TO NOTE… Even if Grogan had completed training at ACFS, and even if Paolella’s letter contains entirely unfounded information, completion of training at ACFS would not qualify anyone to be a polygraph examiner. Additionally, there is no record of Grogan EVER completing ANY formal polygraph training, legitimate or otherwise, although we are receptive to updating this information if such training can be documented.
NOTE: American Polygraph Association accreditation standards require a minimum 400 hours of classroom training to become a certified polygraph examiner. Click here to see APA training standards.
NOTE: ACFS was never an APA accredited polygraph training school – Click here to view the APA letter about ACFS.
2004 – Grogan launched his first website www.groganpolygraph.com offering his services as a certified polygraph examiner.
2005 – Grogan applied to become a member of the Global Polygraph Network, but was denied membership because he was unable to document his attendance at an accredited polygraph training program. Grogan’s application stated that he graduated from American Academy of Forensic Science (AAFS) and not American College of Forensic Studies (ACFS), which no longer exists. Click to view Grogan GPN application.
NOTE: AAFS is not now, and has never been, a training facility. In fact, it is not a school at all. It is an organization that supports standards of training. See AAFS Statement HERE. It is therefore impossible for Grogan to have attended AAFS because it is not a school.
NOTE: AAFS was never an APA accredited polygraph training school – Click here to view the APA letter about AAFS.
After being rejected for membership in the Global Polygraph Network in 2005, Grogan created Polygraph Examiners of America (www.polygraphexaminersofamerica.com) in an unsuccessful attempt to emulate GPN’s marketing strategies..
2008 – Grogan filed suit against certain individuals for defamation. In the litigation materials, Grogan’s “Training Certificate” from AAFS was produced, which reflected a completion date of 6/11/2004. The “certificate” was signed by Joseph Paolella, who operated ACFS at that time. It is important to note that ACFS has no connection with AAFS. There is zero connection between these two organizations. That begs the question… how could a training certificate from AAFS be produced by Grogan, when AAFS is not even a school and does not issue training certificates? Put another way, how did the signature of the owner of ACFS (Paolella) manage to appear on a certificate from AAFS, a completely different organization which Paolella had no connection with?
Even if the “Training Certificate” is revealed to be a forgery – which is likely – it doesn’t really matter. Whether forged or real, the document does not verify any legitimate training. However, someone entered this likely-forged document as evidence in a California civil court. Who could possibly have done that?
2014 – ACFS filed for bankruptcy, and soon after was shut down for illegal activities. Read more HERE. Former owner Joseph Paolella was no longer involved with the school at that time.
CURRENT STATUS
Grogan markets his services as “The Lie Detector Guy,” media, even though there is no evidence he has ever attended an accredited polygraph training program, or received any formal polygraph training whatsoever. This lack of training means he is not eligible to obtain a polygraph license in any state that offers one, and is not eligible to join any professional polygraph organizations such as the American Polygraph Association, National Polygraph Association, or California Association of Polygraph Examiners. As a result, Grogan is unable to benefit from the advanced (and required) training offered by these organizations.
Grogan maintains the deceptively titled website www.certifiedpolygraph.com, in spite of there being no record of his certification. He also maintains hundreds of websites, touting his polygraph “expertise.”
Grogan is perhaps best known for providing tests for television reality shows in real time with “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” following each relevant question, but that’s not how polygraph works. First, APA and ASTM Standards of Practice prohibit testing in front of a live audience, since a sterile environment is needed to minimize interference. Second, all questions must be reviewed ahead of time with the person being tested. Third, each of the relevant questions must be asked at least 3 to 12 times (not including control questions), and then scored following the exam. The total score of these questions determines the final result. It is impossible to render a decision with just one presentation of the relevant question. In other words, polygraph results can not be given in real time because multiple samples (at least three) of each relevant question must be recorded and analyzed before any result can be determined. For these reasons, Grogan’s television “exams” are obviously fake, but the producers most likely know about this and are complicit in predetermined the test results. For context, visit the TikTok video link below.
Grogan claims to have been an examiner since 1987 (see www.groganpolygraph.com) even though his Questionable “Training Certificate” is dated 2004. Is anyone ok with a 17 year fudge factor?
Grogan offers his clients lie detection services “over the phone” as a less-expensive alternative to polygraph testing (see www.groganvsa.com). Professional examiners generally avoid less accurate technologies, such as VSA. Additionally, this practice is illegal in many U.S. states.
Several informative Yelp reviews about Grogan can be found HERE.
A YouTube expose about Grogan can be found HERE.
This TikTok video shows Grogan telling a client to signal him under the table to get any desired test result.
A long article about Grogan can be found HERE.
A few other Grogan complaints can be found HERE and HERE.
WHY IS THIS INFORMATION IMPORTANT?
Let the buyer beware. Please decide for yourself whether Grogan has misrepresented his training and credentials based on the documentation provided. Interestingly, Grogan’s polygraph abilities can easily be tested by having one of his exams (charts and test materials) submitted for a Quality Control review by an experienced examiner (ideally an APA Instructor), although it is unlikely Grogan would ever permit such a QC of his exams.
Grogan has asserted that there is no value in joining any of the “mainstream” polygraph organizations. While there is no requirement to join any of these organizations, it is noteworthy that he would NOT BE ELIGIBLE to join these organizations anyway due to his lack of formal training.
In Grogan’s defense, in California there is no law or regulation preventing anyone from pretending to be a polygraph examiner, unless that fictitious moniker is used to secure a government contract or to submit polygraph evidence or testimony in court. As a result, this lack of polygraph licensing in California means that ANYONE in California can pretend to be a polygraph examiner, which is unfortunate. Most legitimate examiners will obtain a license in some state, even if their home state does not offer licensing. Based on the documents noted on this page, Grogan is not eligible to be licensed in ANY state.
If anyone can provide us with verifiable documentation that John Grogan has been trained at an APA accredited facility, or can document that any information provided here is incorrect, we will promptly update the related notations.
Here is a link to our page about How to Avoid Polygraph Fraud