CHRISTIANSBURG (WSLS 10) - The Christiansburg Police Department has added to its list of investigative tools to help solve crimes.
The department just spent more than $12,000 to buy a polygraph machine and train an officer to operate it.
Until now, Christiansburg has had to schedule polygraph testing in Blacksburg, Salem or Wytheville. This would sometimes delay investigations by days or even weeks.
"For the victims of a crime, they want to see results come in quickly," said Lt. Randy Bonds. "It will allow us to go in the right direction more quickly."
The polygraph instrument measures things like heart rate, breathing and movement to determine whether someone is telling the truth.