Biography - Robert M Tovar

Robert M. Tovar retired from the Chicago Police Department with over 40 years of law enforcement service as a Forensic Investigator/Supervising Polygraph Examiner. For twenty years he was assigned to uniform street duty, plain clothes-uniform tactical unit duty and government security. During the latter half of Mr. Tovar’s career, he pursued his passions for interrogation and forensics assigned to the Chicago Police Crime Lab, now known as the Forensic Services Section. While assigned to the Forensic Services Section, Mr. Tovar conducted polygraph examinations for the Polygraph Unit, one of the oldest polygraph units in Law Enforcement. Mr. Tovar is a licensed polygraph examiner in four states and certified in Voice Stress Analysis.
During Mr. Tovar's assignment in the Forensic Services Section, he was assigned to the Major Crime Scene Unit as a forensic investigator for over nine years. The Major Crime Scene Unit handles violent crimes, high profile cases, homicides, etc., covering all areas of Chicago.
Mr. Tovar has testified in over 100 cases involving interrogation, polygraph and handling crime scenes.
Mr. Tovar has been published in The International Association of Identification’s journal. He is also a member of the association. His article described a method for the use of Electro-Static Equipment to recover ridge impressions from a deceased victim at a crime scene, a relatively new technique at the time. The method used by Mr. Tovar was duplicated under controlled conditions by a medical examiner’s office in Colorado, with favorable results.
Mr. Tovar has published two separate articles for The Canadian Mounted Police Journal on “The Use of Interpreter During Interviews and Interrogations” and “Gesticulation, its Linkages to Veracity and Accuracy”; both articles relate to Mr. Tovar’s present research pursuits.
Mr. Tovar has given presentations on his research into the use of gestures during face-to-face interactions for The American Academy of Forensic Scientists of which he is a member. In addition, he has presented his gesture research to members for the International Forensic and Legal-Medical Associations in Montpelier, France; as well as to forensic associations in Istanbul, Turkey and Budapest, Hungry.

Mr. Tovar is a member of many professional associations, the following are a few: he holds diplomat status in the American College for Forensic Examiners; is a member of The American Association for Psychological Science, The American Society For Testing Materials and is a committee member for standards in forensic psycho-physiological testing, a Certified Protection Professional-CPP certified by ASIS, The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders, and The Society for Gesture Research.
Mr. Tovar received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Loyola University in Chicago and a Master in Social Science from the University of Chicago. His master’s thesis submission was “Gesticulation, its Linkages to Veracity and Accuracy”.
Mr. Tovar continues his academic pursuits in behavior and deception which involve his gestures and interaction research. He is writing a book on “The Strategy of Gestures during Interviews and Interrogations”.
Mr. Tovar has a private consulting practice specializing in areas of polygraph, sexual offender assessments, gesture assessment, interview and interrogation training.