# H.R. 5143 (119th): District of Columbia Policing Protection Act

District of Columbia Policing Protection Act This bill repeals restrictions on the circumstances under which law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia (DC) may engage in vehicular pursuits (i.e., police chases) of suspects fleeing in motor vehicles, and instead generally requires such pursuits in the absence of other means of apprehension. Currently, pursuant to DC's Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, law enforcement officers generally may not engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects fleeing in motor vehicles unless the officer reasonably believes (1) the suspect was involved in a crime of violence or poses an immediate and serious threat to another person, (2) the pursuit is necessary to prevent that threat and is not likely to result in death or serious injury to any person, and (3) all other options have been exhausted or are unreasonable given the circumstances. The bill repeals these restrictions and instead requires law enforcement officers to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects fleeing in motor vehicles unless the officer or a higher-ranking officer reasonably believes that (1) such pursuit would be futile, (2) the pursuit would entail an unacceptable risk of harm to a person other than the suspect, or (3) the suspect can be apprehended more effectively or expeditiously by other means. The bill also requires the Department of Justice to report to Congress on the costs and benefits of DC’s Metropolitan Police Department adopting technology that alerts the public of an active police pursuit in their immediate vicinity.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: civil_authority. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: district_of_columbia. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: federal_preemption. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: police_accountability. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: policing. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: public_safety. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 275: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The measure is a prudential public-safety and policing policy. It seeks to strengthen law enforcement's ability to apprehend fleeing suspects, which is an ordinary civil good, but it loosens limits that protect bystanders from pursuit-related harm, which is a real concern. The text does not directly advance a named moral evil, so it falls under mixed rather than evil or good.
Theological note: The bill bears on the duty of civil authorities to protect the innocent from harm and to exercise force with restraint and proportion, a concern of general equity. Its central question is how to balance apprehending fleeing suspects against the risk of death or injury to bystanders and the public. This is a prudential public-safety question about police discretion and risk, not a direct advancement or restraint of a named moral evil.

## Recorded votes

Roll 275: On Passage. Yea 245 · Nay 182 · Other 5.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-5143-119/