WireFans
4 HN mentions · mentioned in 4 months, 2018–2026
3:31 · 83K views · Mar 25, 2012
The opening scene of The Wire season 5, in which detectives use a copy machine as a fake lie detector to get a confession.
Posted as a joke in polygraph and lie-detector threads.
4 comments from Hacker News
> However, the power in the lie detector comes from its name - "The Lie Detector" - and the common belief that it actually works. Ha. It reminds me of this hilarious video clip ( this video ) from The Wire , S5E01, which Detective William "Bunk" Moreland interrogated DeShawn and made him believe the office copy machine was a lie detector. This plot itself was based on an false urban legend. > [...] they are also not admissible in court, as the law understands that they don't actually work. But in an interrogation process [...] it is a good arrow in the quiver. I think the first things come to my mind is: what types of psychological tricks are and aren't allowed in an interrogation process? Is it permissible to use a nonworking "lie detector" as an interrogation technique? What are the potential abuses of this trick, etc? These are some interesting things that can be argued and debated. I don't have background knowledge any of these subjects I mentioned so I won't start a debate, other interesting may want to do so. Anyway, interesting perspective. I appreciate your comment, which moved the question from the first layer: "does a polygraph work and whether we should use it", to the next layer: "a polygraph doesn't work, but should we use it anyway?"
Police interviews on scripted TV copoganda dramas, or fly on the wall 'reality' police TV shows? Either way a great many police are believers in the power of theatre. As they should be, staging power imbalnce, inserting faux sympathy, etc. are all powerful tools with strong potential for misuse which has prompted regulation in a number of countries demanding full recording of interactions with suspects. Speaking of police interviews on TV shows: Opening scene to Season 5 of The Wire. Classic moment where a copy machine is used for a lie detector. this video
This comment reminds me of one of my favourite scenes from The Wire: this video “Americans are stupid people, by and large. We pretty much believe whatever we’re told”. “The bigger the lie, the more they believe”.
It's a useful interrogation technique, but only if the public believes it works. Example in fiction: this video