News Release - New Technology Helps Detectives Solve Crime

With the use of state of the art technology in the area of voice stress analysis, Palm Bay Police officers and detectives now have the ability to improve criminal investigations by enhancing their abilities to interview suspects and ultimately help solve crimes. The VIPRE System (Vagosympathetic Instrument Processors for Reactive Stress Examinations) is now being used to help detectives in critical areas of the criminal investigative process; the interview. Detectives, patrol officers, the police chief and the criminal investigations major spent the last week in training learning to use the new technology that is currently being implemented within the agency. “I wanted to personally get comfortable with the theory and technology behind this process,” said Chief Bill Berger. “Our objective is to accurately capture, qualify and measure the physiological effects when a person is being deceptive.”

The VIPRE system uses computer based technology that measures unconscious changes in voice patterns when a person is being deceptive. “Under stress, when a person is in fear of the truth being discovered, it will change the structure of the muscle under tension and they can’t help when they speak but to change the voice picture that we see,” said David Hughes, a retired Captain from the West Palm Beach Police Department who is training the Palm Bay Officers. “It’s a lot better than going into the interview room and just coming out with a gut feeling. Science has progressed to the point that we’ll know for certain and it will go beyond a person’s ability to lie.”

A majority of the Department’s detectives are now certified in the use of this technology to be able to conduct these voice stress exams. The system is not meant to “make” a case, but rather to help the investigative process. “Our number one job is to get the RIGHT bad guy who victimizes the citizen,” said Major John Blackledge who oversees the Criminal Investigations Division. “Having another tool in the box to assist us in determining what happened is a good thing.” For more information on the VIPRE system technology, you may visit www.vipresystems.com.

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Yvonne Martinez

Public Information Coordinator
Phone (321) 952-3456 ext. 4678
Cell (321) 426-5194
130 Malabar Road
Palm Bay, FL 32907

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