The Police Surveillance Agency has added two more certified polygraph specialists following training in the United States. According to the official version, this increases capacity for integrity verification within law enforcement ranks, in an area where Albanian institutions have for years sought to strengthen internal screening.
The training was held in the United States
According to the announcement, PSMA’s two new experts completed an intensive 10-week course in basic polygraph training and methodology at the International Polygraph Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The program was supported by the US Department of Justice’s ICITAP and the State Department’s INL, while the certification comes as part of ongoing American cooperation with Albanian security and oversight structures.
More than 400 hours of training and testing in two languages
Officials said the examiners completed more than 400 hours of training, including scientific testing, credibility assessment, interviewing methodology and ethics.
According to the same information, they can conduct examinations in both English and Albanian, which is considered an operational advantage for their use in various verification processes.
The polygraph has also been used for NBI candidates
The first experts trained earlier were used for polygraph testing of candidates for the National Bureau of Investigation in two previous competitions.
Now additional specialists have been added to this team, expanding the structure that handles a sensitive instrument used in screening personnel for important posts in the law enforcement system.
Official claim: greater credibility in the fight against crime
According to the announcement, the new skills will serve for the review and integrity verification of future law enforcement officers.
Authorities present this as a step that makes Albania a more credible partner in the fight against international crime. However, the real effectiveness of these mechanisms is measured by how they are used in practice and how much transparency they produce in recruitment and internal control processes.
The addition of polygraph experts shows that institutions are relying increasingly on integrity screening for security structures.
The question remains how much these new capacities will affect actual verification standards, beyond the institutions’ optimistic statements.