Subchapter VII. Records.
Part A. General — Metropolitan Police Department.
§ 5–113.01. Records required to be maintained; budget and staffing transparency.
(a) The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall cause the Metropolitan Police force to keep the following records:
(1) General complaint files, in which shall be entered every complaint preferred upon personal knowledge of the circumstances thereof, with the name and residence of the complainant;
(2) Records of lost, missing, or stolen property;
(3) A personnel record of each member of the Metropolitan Police force, which shall contain his name and residence; the date and place of his birth; his marital status; the date he became a citizen, if foreign born; his age; his former occupation; and the dates of his appointment and separation from office, together with the cause of the latter;
(4) Arrest books, which shall contain the following information:
(A) Case number, date of arrest, and time of recording arrest in arrest book;
(B) Name, address, date of birth, color, birthplace, occupation, and marital status of person arrested;
(C) Offense with which person arrested was charged and place where person was arrested;
(D) Name and address of complainant;
(E) Name of arresting officer; and
(F) Disposition of case;
(4A) The Metropolitan Police force shall maintain a computerized record of a civil protection order or bench warrant issued as a result of an intrafamily offense;
(4B) Records of stops, including:
(A) The date, location, and time of the stop;
(A-i) The bureau, division, unit, and if applicable, police service area, of the officer who conducted the stop, at the time it was conducted;
(B) The approximate duration of the stop;
(C) The traffic violation or violations alleged to have been committed that led to the stop;
(D) Whether a search was conducted as a result of the stop;
(E) If a search was conducted:
(i) The reason for the search;
(ii) Whether the search was consensual or nonconsensual;
(iii) Whether a person was searched, and whether a person’s property was searched; and
(iv) Whether any contraband or other property was seized in the course of the search;
(F) Whether a warning, safety equipment repair order, or citation was issued as a result of a stop and the basis for issuing such warning, order, or citation;
(G) Whether an arrest was made as a result of either the stop or the search;
(H) If an arrest was made, the crime charged;
(I) The perceived gender of the person stopped;
(J) The perceived race or ethnicity of the person stopped; and
(K) The date of birth of the person stopped;
(4C) Use of force incidents, including:
(A) The total number of use of force incidents and the type of force used;
(B) The total number of officers involved in each use of force incident;
(C) The total number of persons involved in each use of force incident;
(D) The number of civilian complaints filed with the Metropolitan Police Department for excessive use of force, by police district, and the outcome of each complaint, including disciplinary actions;
(E) If an arrest was made, the crime charged;
(F) The gender, race, age, and ethnicity of each person involved in a use of force incident; and
(G) The gender, race, age, and ethnicity of any officer involved in a use force incident;
(4D) For the purposes of this section, the terms "contact", "frisk", and "stop" shall have the meanings ascribed in Metropolitan Police Department General Order 304.10;
(4E) The following information, disaggregated by school, except in cases where disaggregation could reveal a student's identity:
(A) The number of times a law enforcement officer was dispatched to, or requested by, a school;
(B) The incident or arrest classification;
(C) The number of school-related arrests, as that term is defined in § 38-236.01(17), involving an officer;
(D) The type and count of weapons or controlled substances recovered from any school-related event, whether or not an arrest occurred; and
(E) Demographic data for any student and law enforcement officer involved in a stop or school-based arrest, including:
(i) Race and ethnicity;
(ii) Gender; and
(iii) Age; and
(5) Such other records as the Council of the District of Columbia considers necessary for the efficient operation of the Metropolitan Police force.
(a-1) The records maintained pursuant to subsection (a)(4B) and (4C) of this section shall be published on the Metropolitan Police Department's website biannually.
(b) The Metropolitan Police force shall cooperate with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council by sharing records to the extent otherwise permissible under the law for the purpose of preparing the report described in § 22-4234(b-3).
(c) The Metropolitan Police Department ("MPD") shall publish the following information on its website:
(1) Monthly, for the prior 5 fiscal years and the current fiscal year, to date, by month:
(A) A staffing report of the number of sworn officers and civilian employees employed by MPD, by bureau, division, unit, and, if applicable, police service area and rank, with a crosswalk to compare actual staffing to funded and unfunded full-time equivalents in that bureau, division, unit, and if applicable, police service area and rank;
(B) The number of employees that:
(i) Separated from MPD, by type of separation, broken down by civilian employees, cadets, cadet conversion recruits, non-cadet conversion recruits, officers, and senior police officers; and
(ii) Were hired by MPD, broken down by civilian employees, cadets, cadet conversion recruits, non-cadet conversion recruits, officers, and senior police officers; and
(C) Copies of the overtime pay spending reports submitted to the Council as described in subsection (d) of this section.
(1A) Biannually, aggregated data collected in accordance with subsection (a)(4E) of this section;
(1B) Quarterly, the case closure rates for:
(A) Violent crimes, by offense, committed with or without the use of a weapon; and
(B) Non-fatal shootings.
(2) Annually:
(A) A listing of all full-time equivalents at MPD, in spreadsheet format, that includes the following fields for each full-time equivalent:
(i) Position number;
(ii) Position title;
(iii) Whether the position is funded or unfunded;
(iv) Whether the position is filled or vacant;
(v) Program;
(vi) Activity;
(vii) Salary; and
(viii) Fringe benefits; and
(B) A report on MPD's overtime spending, which shall include the amount spent fiscal year-to-date, by month, on overtime pay and a description of the staffing plan and conditions justifying the overtime pay; and
(3) Annually, by the date the annual MPD budget is proposed by the Mayor and transmitted to the Council:
(A) The approved, revised, and actual MPD budgets for the prior 5 fiscal years and the current fiscal year, the expenditures for those years, and the proposed MPD budget for the next fiscal year, in spread-sheet format, broken down, at a minimum, by program, activity, comptroller source group, fund source, and service level; and
(B) For the proposed MPD budget for the next fiscal year:
(i) The total proposed budget for hiring personnel;
(ii) The gross and net number of personnel MPD anticipates the proposed budget will allow it to hire, broken down by civilian employees, cadets, cadet conversion recruits, non-cadet conversion recruits, officers, and senior police officers; and
(iii) A crosswalk identifying any proposed actual or paper changes to MPD's internal organization, including its various bureaus, and a narrative rationale for the change.
(d) MPD shall provide a written report every 2 pay periods on MPD's overtime pay spending to the Council that describes the amount spent year-to-date on overtime pay and the staffing plan and conditions justifying the overtime pay.
§ 5–113.02. Records — Criminal offenses.
(a) In addition to the records kept under § 5-113.01, the Metropolitan Police force shall keep a record of each case in which an individual in the custody of any police force or of the United States Marshal is charged with having committed a criminal offense in the District (except those traffic violations and other petty offenses to which the Council of the District of Columbia determines this section should not apply). The record shall show:
(1) The circumstances under which the individual came into the custody of the police or the United States Marshal;
(2) The charge originally placed against him, and any subsequent changes in the charge (if he is charged with murder, manslaughter, or causing the death of another by the operation of a vehicle at an immoderate speed or in a careless, reckless, or negligent manner, the charge shall be recorded as “homicide”);
(3) If he is released (except on bail) without having his guilt or innocence of the charge determined by a court, the circumstances under which he is released;
(4) If his guilt or innocence is so determined, the judgment of the court;
(5) If he is convicted, the sentence imposed; and
(6) If, after being confined in a correctional institution, he is released therefrom, the circumstances of his release.
(b) The Attorney General, the Corporation Counsel, the United States Magistrate for the District, the Clerk of the District Court, the Clerk of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and the Director of the Department of Corrections shall furnish the Chief of Police with such information as the Mayor of the District of Columbia considers necessary to enable the Metropolitan Police force to carry out this section.
§ 5–113.03. Reports by other police.
Reports shall be made to the Chief of Police, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, of each offense reported to, and each arrest made by, any other police force operating in the District.
§ 5–113.04. Participation of District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department in the National Crime Information System.
(a) Dissemination of adult arrest records to law enforcement agents. —
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia shall disseminate its unexpurgated adult arrest records to members of the court and law enforcement agents, including the Identification Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Such dissemination shall be done without cost and without the authorization of the persons to whom such records relate.
(2) Any records disseminated under this section shall be used in a manner that complies with applicable federal law and regulations.
(b) Definitions. — For purposes of this section:
(1) The term “member of the court” shall include judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys (with respect to the records of their client defendants), clerks of the court, and penal and probation officers.
(2) The term “law enforcement agent” shall include police officers and federal agents having the power to arrest.
(3) The term “unexpurgated adult arrest records” shall include arrest fingerprint cards.
§ 5–113.05. Notice of release of prisoners.
(a) Whenever the Board of Parole of the District of Columbia has authorized the release of a prisoner under § 24-404, or the United States Board of Parole has authorized the release of a prisoner under § 24-406, it shall notify the Chief of Police of that fact as far in advance of the prisoner’s release as possible.
(b) Except in cases covered by subsection (a) of this section, notice that a prisoner under sentence of 6 months or more is to be released from an institution under the management and regulation of the Director of the Department of Corrections shall be given to the Chief of Police as far in advance of the prisoner’s release as possible.
§ 5–113.06. Records open to public inspection.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the records to be kept by paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of § 5-113.01 shall be open to public inspection when not in actual use, and this requirement shall be enforceable by mandatory injunction issued by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on the application of any person.
(b) The name, address, date of birth, occupation, and photograph of any person convicted of a violation of Chapter 27 of Title 22, shall be made available to the public upon written request, in exchange for a reasonable fee established by the Mayor or his or her designee.
(c) Repealed.
(d) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the actual addresses of participants in the Address Confidentiality Program established by § 4-555.02, shall be withheld from public inspection.
§ 5–113.07. Preservation and destruction of records.
All records of the Metropolitan Police Department shall be preserved, except that the Mayor, upon recommendation of the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department and only pursuant to part B of this subchapter, may cause records which the Metropolitan Police Department considers to be obsolete or of no further value to be destroyed.
Part B. Preservation of Crime Investigation Records — Law Enforcement Agencies.
§ 5–113.31. Definitions.
For the purposes of this part, the term:
(1) “Biological material” means a sexual assault forensic examination kit, semen, vaginal fluid, blood, saliva, observable skin tissue, or hair which apparently derived from the perpetrator of a crime or, under circumstances that may be probative of the perpetrator’s identity, apparently derived from the victim of a crime.
(2) “Case jacket” means the primary file for an investigation of a crime which contains all of the investigative reports, papers, and documents specific to the investigation, including notes, transcripts of interviews, witness statements, photos, and audio and video tapes.
(3)(A) “Closed investigation” means the investigation of a crime:
(i) In which the suspect or, in a case with multiple suspects, each of the suspects:
(I) Has been found or pled guilty and judgment has been entered;
(II) Has been found not guilty by reason of insanity;
(III) Has been found incompetent to stand trial and is not likely to regain competency before the expiration of the statute of limitations;
(IV) Is incarcerated and serving a sentence of either life without release or a term of years that is equivalent to life without release for a crime other than the crime being investigated; or
(V) Has died; or
(ii) In which the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia or the Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia has declined prosecution on grounds that permanently eliminate all possibility of prosecution and has authorized the return of evidence to the rightful owner.
(B) A law enforcement agency shall consider a crime closed under subparagraph (A)(i)(IV) or (V) of this paragraph only if the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia or the Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia has certified, for investigations under the prosecutorial jurisdiction of each, that there would be sufficient evidence to prosecute the suspect or suspects if the suspect or suspects were alive or not incarcerated, and declines prosecution on the grounds that the suspect or suspects are dead or incarcerated.
(4) “Crime scene examination case file” means the primary file for an investigation’s crime scene which contains investigative documents and reports; toxicology, DNA testing, and other forensic examination results; evidence reports; photographs; and other documents pertaining to the investigation.
(5) “DNA” means deoxyribonucleic acid.
(6) “DNA testing” means forensic DNA analysis of biological material.
(7) “Domestic partner” has the same meaning as contained in § 32-701(3).
(8) “Family” means:
(A) A homicide victim’s spouse, spouse’s parents, domestic partner, children, including biological, step, and adopted, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, nieces, nephews, siblings, or half siblings;
(B) A person who is a survivor of a homicide victim and who was primarily dependent upon the victim for care and support at the time of the commission of the homicide, including a child of the victim born after the victim’s death; or
(C) A person who is a survivor of a homicide victim and upon whom the victim was primarily dependent for care and support at the time of the commission of the homicide.
(9) “Law enforcement agencies” means the Metropolitan Police Department, the Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia, prosecutors, or any other governmental agency, with the exception of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, that has the authority to investigate, make arrests for, or prosecute or adjudicate District of Columbia criminal or delinquency offenses. The term “law enforcement agencies” shall include law enforcement agencies that have entered into cooperative agreements with the Metropolitan Police Department pursuant to § 5-133.17, to the extent the law enforcement agency is acting pursuant to such a cooperative agreement.
(10) “Open investigation” means the investigation of a crime other than those considered to be closed investigations as described in paragraph (3) of this section.
(11) “Records retention schedule” means a document listing all of the records originating in the Metropolitan Police Department, specifying series of records to be retained permanently, and authorizing on a continued basis the destruction of other series of records after a specified time period has elapsed.
(12) “Statute of limitations” means the time limitations imposed on actions for criminal violations pursuant to § 23-113.
§ 5–113.32. Retention of records and preservation of evidence from open homicide, sexual assault, and violent crime investigations.
(a) In open investigations of the crimes listed in § 23-113(a)(1), law enforcement agencies shall retain case jackets, crime scene examination case files, and any evidence collected during the course of the investigation for 65 years from the date the crime is first reported to the law enforcement agency.
(b) In open investigations of the following crimes, law enforcement agencies shall retain case jackets, crime scene examination case files, and any evidence collected during the course of the investigation for the length of each crime’s statute of limitations:
(1) Assault with intent to kill;
(2) Aggravated assault;
(3) Assault on a police officer with a dangerous weapon;
(4) Burglary;
(5) Mayhem;
(6) Malicious disfigurement;
(7) Sexual abuse and sex offenses, except for the crimes listed in § 23-113(a)(1)(G) through (U); and
(8) Any crime of violence, as that term is defined in section § 22-4501, that is committed while armed, as that term is described in § 22-4502.
(c) Evidence preserved pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall be preserved in such a manner, including if necessary by refrigeration, as to maintain the ability to conduct forensic testing, including DNA testing.
(d) Law enforcement agencies shall not be required to preserve evidence pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section that is of such a size, bulk, or physical character as to render retention impracticable. If practicable, law enforcement agencies shall remove and preserve portions of evidence if such portions contain sufficient evidence to permit future DNA or other forensic testing. When it is not practicable to preserve evidence pursuant to this subsection, law enforcement agencies shall photograph the evidence before disposing of it. When it is not practicable to preserve evidence in its entirety but portions of it are preserved pursuant to this subsection, law enforcement agencies shall photograph the evidence:
(1) Prior to removing portions of the evidence; and
(2) After removing portions of the evidence and before disposing of it.
(e) Photographs of evidence created pursuant to subsection (d) of this section shall be retained in the crime scene examination case files of the corresponding investigation.
(f) In closed investigations of the following crimes, law enforcement agencies shall retain case jackets and crime scene examination case files for as long as evidence is preserved for those investigations pursuant to Chapter 41A of Title 22 [§ 22-4131 et seq.]:
(1) Homicides;
(2) Assault with intent to kill;
(3) Aggravated assault;
(4) Burglary;
(5) Assault on a police officer with a dangerous weapon;
(6) Mayhem;
(7) Malicious disfigurement;
(8) Sexual abuse and sex offenses; and
(9) Any crime of violence, as that term is defined in § 22-4501, that is committed while armed, as that term is described in § 22-4502.
(g) Case jackets, crime scene examination case files, and evidence from open and closed homicide investigations shall not, under any circumstance, be destroyed or disposed of without the written approval of the Chief or the Property Clerk of the Metropolitan Police Department and without prior written approval of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, for investigations under the prosecutorial jurisdiction of the United States Attorney, and the Corporation Counsel for the District of Columbia, for investigations under the prosecutorial jurisdiction of the Corporation Counsel.
(h) Nothing in this section shall prohibit law enforcement agencies from:
(1) Combining case jackets and crime scene examination files into one file;
(2) Destroying duplicative copies of a record or document; or
(3) Storing case jackets and crime scene investigation files electronically, so long as electronic storage will not compromise the admissibility of the records or documents.
(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed as a requirement that a law enforcement agency shall collect a particular item of evidence, in whole or in part.
§ 5–113.33. Penalties; private right of action.
(a) Whoever willfully or maliciously destroys, alters, conceals, or tampers with evidence or records that are being preserved and retained in accordance with this part shall be subject to:
(1) Administrative sanctions, if the individual is an employee of the District of Columbia government, up to and including termination; and
(2) A fine of not more than $5,000, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
(b) Whoever willfully or maliciously destroys, alters, conceals, or tampers with evidence or records that are being preserved and retained in accordance with this part may be the subject of a civil action brought in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by the family of a victim of homicide or by the victim of a crime enumerated in § 5-113.32(b) or (f). The civil action may be brought against the District of Columbia government employee or employees responsible, or against the District of Columbia if a pattern of violations of this section can be established.
(c) Subsection (b) of this section shall only apply to the willful or malicious destruction, alteration, concealment, or tampering with evidence or records that occurs on or after July 15, 2004.
§ 5–113.34. Records retention schedule.
The Metropolitan Police Department shall issue a records retention schedule, in the form of a general order, consistent with this part.
