Introduced in House

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 5143 Introduced in House (IH)] 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5143 To establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 4, 2025 Mr. Higgins of Louisiana (for himself and Mr. Donalds) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``District of Columbia Policing Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. VEHICULAR PURSUITS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN DISTRICT OF

SEC. 2. VEHICULAR PURSUITS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. (a) Amendment.--The Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 (D.C. Law 24-345) is amended-- (1) in subtitle S of title I-- (A) in the heading, by striking ``LIMITATIONS ON THE''; (B) in section 127(a) (sec. 5-365.01(a), D.C. Official Code)-- (i) by striking paragraphs (1) through (5); (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; (iii) by striking paragraphs (8) through (11); and (iv) by redesignating paragraph (12) as paragraph (3); and (C) in section 128 (sec. 5-365.02, D.C. Official Code), by striking subsections (a), (b), and (c) and inserting the following: ``If a law enforcement officer encounters a suspect fleeing in a motor vehicle, the officer shall engage in a vehicular pursuit of the suspect unless the officer, or a higher-ranking official with supervisory authority over the officer, reasonably believes that-- ``(1) vehicular pursuit would-- ``(A) entail an unacceptable risk of harm to a person other than the suspect; or ``(B) be futile; or ``(2) the suspect can be apprehended more effectively or expeditiously by a means other than vehicular pursuit.''; and (2) in the table of contents, by striking the item relating to subtitle S of title I and inserting the following: ``SUBTITLE S. USE OF VEHICULAR PURSUITS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT 33''. OFFICERS. (b) Department of Justice Report on PursuitAlert.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall-- (1) evaluate the costs and benefits of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia adopting PursuitAlert or another similar technology capable of alerting members of the public to the presence of a police pursuit in their immediate vicinity; and (2) publish a report on the evaluation conducted under paragraph (1) and submit the report to-- (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; (C) the Committee on Oversight of the House of Representatives; and (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.