Chapter 3. Federal Law Enforcement Officer Cooperation With Metropolitan Police Department.

§ 5–301. Powers and duties of federal law enforcement officers when making arrests for nonfederal offenses.

(a) When a federal law enforcement agency has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (“MPD”) to assist MPD in carrying out crime prevention and law enforcement activities pursuant to § 5-133.17, a sworn federal law enforcement officer of a covered federal law enforcement agency as defined in § 5-133.17(d) (“federal officer”), who in his official capacity is authorized to make arrests, shall, when making an arrest in the District of Columbia for a nonfederal offense, have the same legal status and immunity from suit as an MPD officer if the arrest is made under the following circumstances:

(1) The federal officer has probable cause to believe that the person arrested has committed a felony;

(2) The federal officer has probable cause to believe that the person arrested has committed a misdemeanor; or

(3) The federal officer is rendering assistance to an MPD officer in an emergency at the request of that MPD officer.

(b) A sworn federal law enforcement officer of a covered federal law enforcement agency as defined in § 5-133.17(d), who in his official capacity is authorized to make arrests, may be authorized by the covered federal law enforcement agency to carry weapons within the boundaries of the District of Columbia while in an off-duty status provided that:

(1) The cooperative agreement authorizes the federal officer to carry weapons while in an off-duty status; and

(2) The federal officer has training substantially similar to the weapons training requirements of the MPD.

(May 9, 2000, D.C. Law 13-100, § 2, 46 DCR 794; June 19, 2013, D.C. Law 19-320, § 201, 60 DCR 3390.)

Section References

This section is referenced in § 5-302.

Effect of Amendments

The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-320 substituted “MPD” for “the Department” in the introductory language of (a); and substituted “has probable cause to believe that the person arrested has committed a misdemeanor” for “reasonably believes that the person arrested has committed a misdemeanor in his presence” in (a)(2).

Emergency Legislation

For temporary amendment of section, see § 201 of the Omnibus Criminal Code Amendments Emergency Amendment Act of 2012 (D.C. Act 19-599, January 14, 2013, 60 DCR 1017).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 201 of the Omnibus Criminal Code Amendment Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-44, April 1, 2013, 60 DCR 5381, 20 DCSTAT 1281).

§ 5–302. Restrictions on powers and duties of federal law enforcement officers.

Officers when acting under the authority granted in § 5-301(a) shall be subject to the restrictions imposed on MPD officers under the laws codified in Chapter 1 of this title. These restrictions include, but are not limited to, arrests under § 5-115.01, use of unnecessary or wanton force under § 5-123.02, and the use of prohibited techniques, as that term is defined in § 5-125.02(6).

§ 5–303. Public information program; priority at the scene.

(a) The Chief of Police shall establish a continuing public information program to inform the public, at a minimum, of which police agencies located in the District of Columbia have authority to make arrests anywhere in the District.

(b) Any cooperative agreement with a federal law enforcement agency shall include procedures that establish clearly which agency has priority at the scene. In addition, before entering into a cooperative agreement, the Chief of Police shall make a finding as to:

(1) Whether misconduct by the federal officers should be covered by the Police Complaint Board; and

(2) Whether the public information program should be supplemented to inform the public of information concerning the specific cooperative agreement, and if so, how.