Areas of Examination in Audits

(1) In conducting an audit, the Commission may examine any areas related to the Commission's statutory charge, including: (a) Law enforcement agency or officer functioning, generally or with respect to a particular matter, in the following areas: 1. Recordkeeping or reporting of information, within the agency, to the Commission, and to other entities; 2. Compliance with directives, sources of authority, policies, and standards related to law enforcement and agency management, including: a. M.G.L. c. 6E; b. 555 CMR; c. Commission policies and standards; d. Commission certification conditions, restrictions, and limitations; e. Commission-issued compulsory legal process; f. Other Commission directives; g. M.G.L. c. 6, §§ 167 through 178B; h. Other statutes and regulations; i. Court judgments, consent decrees, orders, or rules; j. Decisions by other bodies or persons or authority; k. Other compulsory legal process; and l. Agency policies; 3. The adequacy of investigations and determinations, including: a. The adequacy of background investigations concerning active and prospective agency members; b. The adequacy of other investigations and analysis; c. The accuracy and completeness of reports and factual recitations; d. The adequacy of notifications to affected individuals; e. The appropriateness of interview procedures; f. The prevalence and adequacy of recordings and transcriptions; g. The reliability of factfinding; h. The appropriateness of the time devoted to processes; i. The fairness of processes, and how they compare to those in comparable cases; j. The sufficiency of documentation generated; k. The honoring of individual rights; and l. The equity and justness of results, and how they compare to those in comparable cases; 4. Internal and external communication, including: a. The communication of Commission and agency policies, and required notifications, to agency personnel; b. The treatment of information that one agency member has reported to another; c. Other communication and interaction with agency personnel; d. Communication and interaction with the Commission and other agencies; and e. Communication and interaction with complainants, victims, witnesses, and other members of the public; and 5. Other aspects of performance, including the sufficiency, fairness, equity, justness, soundness, timeliness, efficiency, and effectiveness of policies and operations; and (b) Substantive information that may warrant analysis or aid the Commission in developing or recommending policies or informing the public. (2) A Commission audit may focus on subjects that are referenced in M.G.L. c. 6E, § 8(d) or are otherwise related to the Commission's statutory charge, including: (a) Officer certification; (b) SRO certification and activity, SRO MOUs, and SRO operating procedures; (c) Law enforcement agency certification, including standards concerning: 1. Use of force and reporting of use of force; 2. Officer codes of conduct; 3. Officer response procedures; 4. Criminal investigation procedures; 5. Juvenile operations; 6. Internal affairs and officer complaint investigation procedures; 7. Detainee transportation; and 8. Collection and preservation of evidence; (d) Complaints, investigations, disciplinary matters, and misconduct involving officers, including conduct involving improper: 1. Racial profiling or other forms of bias; 2. Violence or dangerousness; 3. Dishonesty; 4. Nonintervention; 5. Harassment, intimidation, or retaliation; 6. Unlawfulness or obstruction of justice; or 7. Unprofessionalism; (e) In-service training and retraining; (f) Uses of force, crowd control, injuries, and deaths; (g) The law concerning: 1. The handling of evidence that may be exculpatory or otherwise relevant with respect to a criminal matter; 2. Civil rights; 3. Other aspects of criminal procedure; 4. Labor and employment; and 5. Public records, criminal record information, record retention, information disclosure, and fair information practices; (h) Other law enforcement activity; (i) Patterns on the part of single individuals, multiple individuals within a law enforcement agency, or multiple individuals in different agencies; and (j) Any other area relevant to the development of public policy or another matter of public interest.