In the summer of 1990, after both men that founded The American Association of Police Polygraphists (AAPP) in 1976 saw the success it had become, they, Capt. William (Bill) Taylor, Supervisor of the Texas Department of Public Safety Polygraph Division and Dr. Antonio (Tony) V. Suarez-Barrio, Chairman of the Criminal Justice Department, and chief of campus police investigations at Central Texas College District, begun exploring the possibility of starting a Texas association composed strictly of local and state of Texas government agencies polygraphists.
Both Taylor and Barrio felt that such association would be able to obtain grants from the Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Agency to be used strictly for training polygraphists in the governmental sector and as such making superior training available to criminal justice polygraph examiners who otherwise, because of small agencies lack of funds or other constrains, had been unable to pay the seminar fees or join the private civilian polygraph examiners dominated association that existed then in Texas.
In early 1991, after having obtained the necessary assurances from Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education and the Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Council, Taylor and Barrio decided to emulate the constitution and by-laws they had created when they formed the American Association of Police Polygraphists, and apply them with the changes required to form a state of Texas Police Polygraph Examiners Association, making it a “sister” association to AAPP, and allowing members of AAPP to attend the seminars of the proposed association and vice versa. It was about that time that the Texas Department of Public Service changed the name of their polygraph examiners to “polygraph investigators”. Hence, Taylor and Barrio agreed to call the planned association “Texas Association of Law Enforcement Polygraph Investigators” (TALEPI) being that such a name was appropriate for all criminal justice agencies polygraph examiners, Department of Public Safety or otherwise.
Because Taylor was a member of the state of Texas Polygraph Examiners Board and Barrio had been asked by representatives of the Texas Governor to also serve in that board beginning in 1992, neither could, by law, be an officer of any association that they would be required to regulate, thus it became imperative that superior police polygraph examiners be recruited and that they would be able to serve as officials, and carry on the business of the planned association.
After due consideration, both Taylor and Barrio agreed to approach Deputy Chief Brad Rogers, who was also a polygraph examiner for the Killeen, Texas police department. Rogers had been the top graduate of his polygraph class at Texas A&M University polygraph school, possessed a degree in criminal justice, and in 1984 had participated in a polygraph/hypnoses research project with Dr. Barrio. His character, reputation in the field, abilities, managerial experience and background made him the logical choice to make the idea and concept of Taylor and Barrio into a reality.
At a lunch hosted in Central Texas College in April 1991, both Taylor and Barrio persuaded Lt. Rogers to accept. A few weeks later, Taylor, Barrio, and Rogers had a meeting at DPS Headquarters in Austin, Texas and Taylor invited Gordon Moore, a Texas DPS examiner at Austin, Texas, with intention of having Moore also become a part of the association founders, being able to provide DPS assistance to Rogers without directly involving Taylor. Moore was also a former graduate of Central Texas College and had distinguished himself as a polygraph examiner with the Department of Public Safety. At the meeting Moore agreed to serve in the formation of the association. Also asked to serve in a “temporary” leadership capacity were D.J. Lovvorn, another DPS examiner, and Dee Wheeler, an examiner with the then Texas Department of Corrections. Afterwards, information about the new association was promulgated via the AAPP Newsletter and by word of mouth among Texas police examiners.
In June 1992 a police polygraph examiner seminar was held at DPS in Austin, Texas Rogers spoke to the participants and explained the goals and aims of the newly formed association. Almost to a man, all joined TALEPI at that meeting. Thus the association became a reality. At that meeting the following were then elected by acclamation to serve the association for a one year term:
President: Deputy Chief Brad Rogers, Killeen, Texas
Secretary/Treasurer: Sgt. Gordon Moore, Polygraph Examiner, Texas DPD, Austin, Texas.
Director: Ken Dollinger, Jefferson County Criminal Courts, Texas.
Honorary Director: (No vote, only guidance) Capt. William Taylor, Texas DPS, Austin, Texas.
Honorary Director and Editor: (No vote, just guidance, Dr. Tony Barrio, Chief of Central Texas College District Investigations, Killeen, Texas.
Further elections were to be held annually, during the yearly seminars.
From those modest and humble beginnings the association grew by leaps and bounds maintaining its original purpose of providing superior, affordable training to all its members and as the adage goes…..the rest is history!