2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 5 - Police, Firefighters, Medical Examiner, and Forensic Sciences › Chapter 1 - Metropolitan Police › Subchapter XIII - Limitation on Chokehold › § 5–125.01. Findings

§ 5–125.01. Findings.
(a) The Council finds that law enforcement officers' use of neck restraints, or any other technique that causes asphyxiation, presents an unnecessary danger to the public and constitutes excessive force.
(b) On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by applying a neck restraint to Floyd with his knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people across the world, including in the District, took to the streets to peacefully protest injustice, racism, white supremacy, and police brutality against Black people and other people of color. Chauvin was ultimately found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
(c) Police brutality is abhorrent and antithetical to the District's values. It is the intent of the Council that this subchapter unequivocally strengthen the 1985 ban on the use of neck restraints and other techniques that can cause asphyxiation by law enforcement officers.
(Jan. 25, 1986, D.C. Law 6-77, § 2, 32 DCR 6497; Apr. 21, 2023, D.C. Law 24-345, § 101(a), 70 DCR 7904.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 4-188.
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 (D.C. Act 25-61, Mar. 24, 2023, 70 DCR 3820).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24-454, June 28, 2022, 69 DCR 007767).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Act 24-370, Apr. 7, 2022, 0 DCR 0).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-128, July 29, 2021, 68 DCR 007656).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-76, May 3, 2021, 68 DCR 004935).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-437, Oct. 28, 2020, 67 DCR 12993).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Second Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-336, July 22, 2020, 67 DCR 9148).
Temporary Legislation
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Temporary Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Law 24-149, Aug. 12, 2022, 69 DCR 007767).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Temporary Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Law 24-23, Sept. 3, 2021, 68 DCR 005837).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 101(a) of Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Second Temporary Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Law 23-151, Dec. 3, 2020, 67 DCR 9920).
Editor's Notes
Mayor authorized to issue rules: Section 5 of D.C. Law 6-77 provided that the Mayor may issue rules to implement the provisions of the act pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 15 of Title 1.