{"data":{"id":"us-dc/d.c.-code-5-365.02","jurisdiction":"us-dc","citation":"D.C. Code § 5-365.02","heading":"Law enforcement vehicular pursuit reform.","body":"(a)\nA law enforcement officer shall not engage in a vehicular pursuit of a suspect motor vehicle unless the law enforcement officer actually and reasonably believes:\n(1)\nThe fleeing suspect:\n(A)\nHas committed or attempted to commit a crime of violence; or\n(B)\nPoses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to another person;\n(2)\nThe vehicular pursuit is:\n(A)\nImmediately necessary to protect another person, other than the fleeing suspect or suspects, from the threat of serious bodily injury or death; and\n(B)\nUnder the totality of circumstances, not likely to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person, other than to the fleeing suspect or suspects; and\n(3)\nAll other options have been exhausted or do not reasonably lend themselves to the circumstances.\n\n(b)\nIn any grand jury, criminal, delinquency, or civil proceeding where an officer's use of a vehicular pursuit is a material issue, the trier of fact shall consider:\n(1)\nThe reasonableness of the law enforcement officer's belief and actions from the perspective of a reasonable law enforcement officer; and\n(2)\nThe totality of the circumstances, which shall include:\n(A)\nWhether the identity of the suspect was known;\n(B)\nWhether the suspect could have been apprehended at a later time;\n(C)\nThe likelihood of a person, including the suspect motor vehicle's occupants, being endangered by the vehicular pursuit, including the type of area, the time of day, the amount of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and the speed of the vehicular pursuit;\n(D)\nThe availability of other means to apprehend or track the fleeing suspect, such as helicopters;\n(E)\nWhether circumstances arose during the vehicular pursuit that rendered the pursuit futile or would have required the vehicular pursuit to continue for an unreasonable time or distance, including:\n(i)\nThe distance between the pursuing law enforcement officers and the fleeing motor vehicle; and\n(ii)\nWhether visual contact with the suspect motor vehicle was lost, or the suspect motor vehicle's location was no longer known;\n(F)\nWhether the law enforcement officer's pursuit vehicle sustained damage or a mechanical failure that rendered it unsafe to operate;\n(G)\nWhether the law enforcement officer was directed to terminate the pursuit by the pursuit supervisor or a higher-ranking supervisor;\n(H)\nThe law enforcement officer's training and experience;\n(I)\nWhether anyone in the suspect motor vehicle:\n(i)\nAppeared to possess, either on their person or in a location where it is readily available, a dangerous weapon; and\n(ii)\nWas afforded an opportunity to comply with an order to surrender any suspected dangerous weapons;\n(J)\nWhether the law enforcement officer, or another law enforcement officer in close proximity, engaged in reasonable de-escalation measures;\n(K)\nWhether any conduct by the law enforcement officer prior to the vehicular pursuit unreasonably increased the risk of a confrontation resulting in a vehicular pursuit; and\n(L)\nWhether the law enforcement officer made all reasonable efforts to prevent harm, including abandoning efforts to apprehend the suspect.\n\n(c)\n(1)\nThe following practices or tactics employed by a law enforcement officer shall constitute a serious use of force:\n(A)\nBoxing in;\n(B)\nCaravanning;\n(C)\nDeploying a roadblock;\n(D)\nDeploying a tire deflation device; and\n(E)\nParalleling.\n(2)\nRamming shall constitute a use of deadly force.\n(3)\nNothing in this subsection shall be construed to permit any of the above practices or tactics, to the extent they are prohibited by District law or by a law enforcement agency.","path":["Title 5. Police, Firefighters, Medical Examiner, and Forensic Sciences.","Chapter 3E. Use of Vehicular Pursuits."],"source_url":"https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/5-365.02","current_through":"2026-08-20 (D.C. Law 26-175)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-29T05:44:07Z","sha256":"2c8f25a4003972f7f37ba090d528b0b925cf09ab6511e460c5dc764dd251b366","source_id":"us-dc","stale":false,"prev":"us-dc/d.c.-code-5-365.01","next":"us-dc/d.c.-code-5-353.01"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}