2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 99 - Reserved sections › § 5–331.16. (Perm). Use of riot gear, chemical irritants, or less-lethal projectiles; reporting requirements

§ 5–331.16(Perm). Use of riot gear, chemical irritants, or less-lethal projectiles; reporting requirements.
(a) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Bodily injury" means physical pain, physical injury, illness, or impairment of physical condition.
(2) "Significant bodily injury" means a bodily injury that to prevent long-term physical damage or to abate severe pain requires hospitalization or immediate medical treatment beyond what a layperson can personally administer. The term "significant bodily injury" includes a:
(A) Fracture of a bone;
(B) Laceration that is at least one inch in length and at least one quarter of an inch in depth;
(C) Burn of at least second degree severity;
(D) Brief loss of consciousness;
(E) Traumatic brain injury; and
(F) Contusion, petechia, or other bodily injury to the neck or head sustained during strangulation or suffocation.
(b) Law enforcement officers shall not be deployed in riot gear unless:
(1) The on-scene Incident Commander believes there is an impending risk to law enforcement officers of significant bodily injury;
(2) The deployment is not being used to disperse a First Amendment assembly and is consistent with the District's policy on First Amendment assemblies;
(3) The deployment of officers in riot gear is reasonable, given the totality of the circumstances; and
(4) All other options have been exhausted or do not reasonably lend themselves to the circumstances.
(c) Law enforcement officers shall not deploy less-lethal weapons at a First Amendment Assembly, any other public assembly, or riot unless:
(1) The law enforcement officer actually and reasonably believes that the deployment of less-lethal weapons is immediately necessary to protect the law enforcement officer or another person from the threat of bodily injury or damage to property;
(2) The deployment of less-lethal weapons is not being used to disperse a lawful First Amendment assembly and is consistent with the District's policy on First Amendment assemblies;
(3) The law enforcement officer has received training on the proper use, in the context of crowds, of the specific type of less-lethal weapons deployed;
(4) The law enforcement officer's actions are reasonable, given the totality of the circumstances; and
(5) All other options have been exhausted or do not reasonably lend themselves to the circumstances.
(d) In any grand jury, criminal, delinquency, or civil proceeding where an officer's use of riot gear or less-lethal weapons is a material issue, the trier of fact shall consider:
(1) The reasonableness of the law enforcement officer's belief and actions from the perspective of a reasonable law enforcement officer; and
(2) The totality of circumstances, which shall include whether:
(A) The law enforcement officer, or another law enforcement officer in close proximity, engaged in reasonable de-escalation measures prior to the deployment of less-lethal weapons or riot gear, including issuing an order to disperse and providing individuals a reasonable opportunity to disperse, as described in
§ 5-331.07(e)
and
(e-1)
;
(B) Any conduct by the law enforcement officer prior to the deployment of less-lethal weapons or riot gear unreasonably increased the risk of a confrontation resulting in less-lethal weapons being deployed;
(C) The use of less-lethal weapons was limited to the people for whom MPD had individualized probable cause for arrest; and
(D) The less-lethal weapon was deployed in a frequency, manner, and intensity that is objectively reasonable.
(e)(1) Following any deployment of officers in riot gear as described in subsection (b) of this section, the deployment of less-lethal weapons as described in subsection (c) of this section, or upon request by the Chairperson of the Council Committee with jurisdiction over the Metropolitan Police Department, the highest ranking official at the scene of the deployment shall make a written report to the Chief of Police, within 5 business days after the deployment, that describes the deployment of riot gear or less-lethal weapons, including, where applicable and if known:
(A) The number of officers deployed in riot gear;
(B) The number of officers who deployed less-lethal weapons;
(C) The type, quantity, and amount of less-lethal weapons deployed;
(D) The number of people against whom any use of force was deployed;
(E) The justification for the deployment of officers in riot gear, the deployment of less-lethal weapons, or any other uses of force; and
(F) Whether the deployment of officers in riot gear, or the deployment of less-lethal weapons or any other uses of force, met the requirements of
this chapter
.
(2) MPD shall publish the report on a publicly accessible website within 10 business days after the deployment.
(3) If MPD cannot post a report in compliance with
§ 5-331.16(e)(2)
[subsection (e)(2) of this section], MPD shall post an explanation of the delay within 10 business days.
(f) The Mayor shall request that any federal law enforcement agency operating in the District follow the requirements of this section.
(Apr. 13, 2005, D.C. Law 15-352, § 116, 52 DCR 2296; Apr. 21, 2023, D.C. Law 24-345, § 121|(c), 70 DCR 953.)