Get Real

[Steve Furlong]

Tim May wrote:
> 
> On Wednesday, September 26, 2001, at 10:58 AM, Steve Furlong wrote:

> > The first two examples that came to my mind were kidnaping and security
> > clearance background checks. While one may debate whether kidnaping
> > should be a federal crime, it _is_, and it's the Feebs' job to
> > investigate it. Similarly with background checks for clearances.
> > Perfectly valid reasons to talk to the Feebs.
> 
> Only if you know your coworker or neighbor is a spy.
> 
> I've refused to answer questions about neighbors when they were being
> checked out by the FBI. I told the agents, this was in the mid-80s, that
> I had no interest in speculating to them about a person I knew only in
> passing.
> 
> I expect a lot of background checks get idle speculation from bluehairs
> and busybodies.


Because of changes in US living patterns, the FBI has found neighbor
interviews to be mostly useless in determining trustworthiness for
purposes of security clearances. They're putting more weight on lie
detectors now. As of a year ago, anyway, they'd still try to talk to
neighbors, but the chance of finding one who knew enough to inform a
decision on whether to entrust someone with a clearance was much worse
than in decades gone by. The contaminated reports from "bluehairs and
busybodies" was a problem in the 80's, and is probably worse now.

That doesn't take into account the people who no longer will talk to the
Feebs under any circumstances. IIRC, in the late 80's, the Feebs
wouldn't tell the neighbors and coworkers why they were investigating
someone. I don't know if that was official policy, or just the policy of
the investigators who asked me about some of my coworkers. On
reflection, I agree with you: unless the investigator told me exactly
why he was investigating my neighbor, I'd refuse to give him the time of
day.

The questionable usefulness of lie detectors is a topic for another
diatribe.


SRF

-- 
Steve Furlong    Computer Condottiere   Have GNU, Will Travel
  617-670-3793

"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly
while bad people will find a way around the laws." -- Plato