Conduct of Preliminary Inquiries

(1) Collection of Information. (a) The division of standards may, in connection with a preliminary inquiry, obtain or provide pertinent information, including any information regarding grants of immunity, regarding officers, agencies, witnesses, or complainants, from or to law enforcement agencies and other domestic, federal or foreign jurisdictions, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and maytransmit or receive such information electronicallyor via other secure methods. (b) To support its own preliminary inquiry the division of standards may request, by writing to the head of the agency, that the agency produce all records relating to its internal investigation of a complaint. The agency shall produce all such records to the division of standards within 15 days of the division of standards’ demand, unless the division of standards allows a longer period of time. (c) Upon written request by the division of standards, the agency shall make its best efforts to make witnesses available to the division of standards, or if requested by the division of standards, to coordinate its internal investigation with the division of standards’ preliminary inquiry. (2) Subpoenas. The division of standards is authorized in the name of the commission to issue subpoenas in the conduct of preliminary inquiries, to compel the attendance of witnesses, to compel the production of documents and records at any place within the commonwealth, to administer oaths, and to require testimony under oath. Subpoenas may be served by commission employees and agents, including contracted investigators. Any witness summoned may petition the commission to vacate or modify a subpoena issued in its name. After such investigation as the commission considers appropriate, the commission may grant the petition in whole or in part upon a finding that the testimony, or the evidence whose production is required, does not relate with reasonable directness to any matter in question, or that a subpoena for the attendance of a witness or the production of evidence is unreasonable or oppressive, or has not been issued a reasonable period in advance of the time when the evidence is requested. The commission shall exercise all legal remedies available to it to enforce any subpoenas issued under 555 CMR 1.05(2). (3) Contractor Investigators. The commission may retain qualified contractor investigators, either directly or pursuant to contracts with private investigative businesses or other qualified entities, to assist the division of standards in conducting preliminary inquiries. Before a contractor investigator can participate in any preliminary inquiry, the investigator shall execute a certification acknowledging: the investigator’s full understanding and acceptance of the authority given; the investigator’s freedom from conflict of interest, bias, prejudice or self- interest; applicable confidentiality provisions; and appropriate limits to the investigator’s authority.