PEAK Cadre

Sandy Dunn, Director and Lead Instructor

PEAK Director Sandy Dunn, a PEAK graduate herself, spent four years as the school coordinator and instructional assistant. She worked side by side with former Director Ben Blalock guiding and mentoring students while improving the curriculum for both the basic polygraph examiner course and advanced courses. As an instructional assistant, she has taught basic and advanced course curriculum under Ben’s tutelage. She also designed and implemented PEAK’s online advanced training courses. Sandy shares Ben’s passion for the polygraph field and for the standardization of polygraph through best practices based on scientific evidence.

Sandy is the owner of TEP Polygraph Services, LLC, conducting various polygraph examinations and quality control. Sandy is currently serving as the President of the Florida Polygraph Association and previously served as the School Director of the Randall Jones School for Continuing Studies for four years. She has 26 years of experience in education. She has taught in the police academy and was an adjunct professor in criminal justice at the university level developing and teaching both in person and online curriculum. She holds both a master’s degree and bachelor's degree in the criminal justice field.

In addition to the Florida Polygraph Association (FPA), Sandy is a member of the American Polygraph Association (APA) and the American Association of Police Polygraphists (AAPP). She is an AAPP Certified Forensic Law Enforcement Examiner and is currently serving on three APA committees: the Professional Development Committee, the Research and Development Committee, and the Education Accreditation Committee.

Like her predecessor, Sandy began teaching early in her career in polygraph, becoming involved with all aspects of training at PEAK. Sandy has presented various polygraph topics at state, national, and international polygraph associations, as well as for intelligence agencies involved in national security for various countries. She has published several articles and papers in the field of polygraph. She has also assisted law enforcement agencies set up and/or redesign their polygraph programs.

Sandy retired from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office after 30 years of service including 25 years as a law enforcement officer. Most of her career was spent as a detective in special investigations focusing on all levels of narcotics investigations, organized crime, vice, and computer crimes. She has experience testifying as an expert witness in court at both a state level and a federal level.

Mark Handler, Administrator

Mark Handler is a polygraph examiner, instructor and credibility assessment consultant. He has served on the board of the American Polygraph Association as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Handler has published over 75 peer-reviewed articles on polygraph-related topics, including a recent Comprehensive Meta-Analysis on the Comparison Question Test. He is currently the Polygraph Product Manager for Lafayette Instrument Company. Mark is a former law enforcement officer and polygraph examiner and a veteran of the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power Program and U.S. Nuclear Submarine Service.

Senior Instructors

James Orr
Jim Orr holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and graduated from the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute in Fort McClellan, Alabama on April 2, 1999. Mr. Orr conducted in excess of 2,300 polygraph examinations in all areas of FBI responsibility across the United States and around the world. He also conducted quality control review of other FBI examiners’ work, as well as serving as the head polygraph examiner in the Baltimore and Tampa FBI offices. He served as a mentor and field trainer to new examiners in both offices, as well as coordinating all polygraph matters. Upon retiring from the FBI on January, 1, 2011, Mr. Orr founded Tampa Polygraph Services, LLC, and has conducted hundreds of polygraph examinations in the United States and abroad for Law Enforcement, as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), attorneys, private companies and private individuals, as well as conducting quality control reviews of other examiners’ work. Mr. Orr was an instructor at the Academy of Polygraph Science from June, 2012 through March, 2016, teaching all aspects of polygraph in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Orr has over 36 years of active law enforcement experience. He began his law enforcement career as a police cadet in the City of Westland, Michigan in metropolitan Detroit on August 1, 1974. He attended the police academy in 1976 and then served as a uniformed police officer until he accepted a position as an FBI Special Agent on October 2, 1983, serving in that capacity until his retirement on January 1, 2011. Mr. Orr is a former full member of the Maryland Polygraph Association and is a current member in good standing with the American Polygraph Association (APA), the American Association of Police Polygraphists (AAPP) and Florida Polygraph Association (FPA). Mr. Orr has received extensive instruction in all areas of polygraph and interview and interrogation since entering the field of polygraph.

Scott Walters
Scott Walters is an American Polygraph Association Certified Instructor. Mr. Walters graduated from the International Academy of Polygraph in 1995 and has conducted polygraph interview and examinations for both the private and government sector for pre-employment screening, criminal investigations, post-conviction sex offender, and internal affairs investigations. Mr. Walters has served as the past School Director for the International Academy of Polygraph. Mr. Walters is currently providing Polygraph Instruction for PEAK Credibility Assessment Training Center in Cape Coral, FL. Mr. Walters has over 20 years of active law enforcement service and is currently employed as a Sergeant with the Professional Responsibility Bureau of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and is the polygraph section supervisor. Mr. Walters is a member in good standing with the American Polygraph Association (APA), the American Association of Police Polygraphists (AAPP), and the National Polygraph Association (NPA). Mr. Walters is a certified member with the Florida Polygraph Association (FPA), where he served as the Vice President Public and Grievance Committee Chair between 2007 and 2017 and is a past board member with this association. Mr. Walters holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management; an Instructor Certification from the American Polygraph Association, and is recognized as a Certified Examiner through the Florida Polygraph Association in both Polygraph Methodology and Post-Conviction Sex Offender Testing (PCSOT). To date, Mr. Walters has conducted in excess of 5,300 polygraph examinations and is a recognized court expert in the field of polygraph within the State of Florida. In addition, Mr. Walters has many hours of specialized instruction in Interview and Interrogation techniques. Mr. Walters has provided specialized instruction in Polygraph Methodology, and the field of Pre-Test and Post-Test interview in the United States, Canada, Nepal, and The Caribbean. In addition, he has provided instruction to foreign nationals from the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and South Africa.

Joe Waters
Joe retired as an NYPD investigator after 20 years of service in 2006. He has an M.A. in Forensic Psychology with Distinction from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Joe has experience as a Behavioral Science Specialist and as a supervisor at Community Resources, as well as serving as a clinical therapist for the Florida Civil Commitment Center. Joe became a polygraph examiner after attending the Academy of Polygraph Science under Director Ben Blalock in 2014.

Joe is the owner of Deception Investigations, LLC, conducting various polygraph examinations, including PCSOT examinations. Joe has served as an instructor for PEAK Credibility Assessment Training Center since 2020 teaching psychology, PCSOT, and other polygraph topics. He serves as a lab assistant as well. Joe is a member of the American Polygraph Association, American Association of Police Polygraphists, Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse, Florida Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse, Florida Association of Licensed Investigators, and the Florida Polygraph Association where is currently serving on the FPA Board of Directors