{"format":1,"id":"119-hr-5143","congress":119,"number":"H.R. 5143","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025","title_source":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","official_title":"To establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"To establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Official Title from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text","title":"To establish standards for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia to engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Display Title","title":"District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","title":"District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"District of Columbia Policing Protection Act"}],"outcome":"passed_house","law_number":null,"introduced":"2025-09-04","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2025-09-17","vote":{"id":"119-2025-h275","question":"On Passage","title":"District of Columbia Policing Protection Act","result":"Passed","yea":245,"nay":182,"present":0,"not_voting":5,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2025/roll275.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"pending","date":null,"vote":null}},"president":{"status":"not_yet","date":null},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Received in the Senate.","date":"2025-09-18"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[],"other_votes":[],"crs_summary":{"date":"2025-09-04","stage":"Introduced in House","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"District of Columbia Policing Protection Act"},{"k":"p","t":"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."},{"k":"p","t":"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."},{"k":"p","t":"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."},{"k":"p","t":"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."}],"words":249},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Changes the District of Columbia law on when law enforcement officers may engage in vehicular pursuits of suspects fleeing in motor vehicles, and requires the Attorney General to report on pursuit-alert technology for the Metropolitan Police Department.","cites":[{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text/eh#H4AAD1B68ECE944D78992B6DA7021C699"}]},"core_areas":["Vehicular pursuit rules for law enforcement officers in the District of Columbia","Attorney General evaluation and report on pursuit-alert technology"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Amends the District of Columbia's Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 by replacing its current subsections on vehicular pursuit with a rule that an officer may pursue a suspect fleeing in a motor vehicle unless certain beliefs apply.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text/eh#H4AAD1B68ECE944D78992B6DA7021C699"}},{"text":"Bars a pursuit when the officer, or a higher-ranking official with supervisory authority, reasonably believes it would risk unacceptable harm to a person other than the suspect, would be futile, or that other means can apprehend the suspect more effectively or expeditiously.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text/eh#H4AAD1B68ECE944D78992B6DA7021C699"}},{"text":"Strikes several paragraphs of definitions in the pursuit subtitle, renumbers the remaining ones, and adds to one definition an exclusion for sworn federal law enforcement officers of a covered federal law enforcement agency.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text/eh#H4AAD1B68ECE944D78992B6DA7021C699"}},{"text":"Requires the Attorney General, within 3 years of enactment, to evaluate the costs and benefits of the Metropolitan Police Department adopting PursuitAlert or a similar technology that alerts the public to a police pursuit nearby.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text/eh#H4AAD1B68ECE944D78992B6DA7021C699"}},{"text":"Requires the Attorney General to publish a report on that evaluation and submit it to the Senate Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and on the Judiciary, and the House Committees on Oversight and Government Reform and on the Judiciary.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text/eh#H4AAD1B68ECE944D78992B6DA7021C699"}}],"unexpected":[{"category":"selective_carve_out","items":[{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text/eh#H4AAD1B68ECE944D78992B6DA7021C699"},"heading":"Vehicular pursuits by law enforcement officers in District of Columbia","effect":"Amends the definition of law enforcement officer in the District of Columbia pursuit law so that it does not include sworn federal law enforcement officers of a covered federal law enforcement agency.","amount":null,"quote":"except that such term does not include a sworn federal law enforcement officer of a covered federal law enforcement agency as defined in section 11712(d)"}]}],"version":{"type":"Engrossed in House","date":"2025-09-17","rule":"passed","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text/eh"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-09-29","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/5143/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/119-hr-5143.png","v":"135b7730b6aa","alt":"Votes on Record. H.R. 5143, 119th Congress: District of Columbia Policing Protection Act of 2025. House: 245 Yea, 182 Nay. Senate: not yet considered. Outcome: Passed House, 17 Sep 2025."}}