To restore the right to negotiate matters pertaining to the discipline of law enforcement officers of the District of Columbia through collective bargaining, to restore the statute of limitations for bringing disciplinary cases against members or civilian employees of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Additional sponsors: Mr. Biggs of Arizona and Mr. Rutherford
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Garbarino (for himself and Mr. Stauber) introduced the following …
On Passage
Protecting Our Nation’s Capital Emergency Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill rolls back two specific provisions of Washington DC's 2022 police reform law (D.C. Law 24-345). It restores the ability of the DC police union to negotiate discipline matters through collective bargaining and reinstates the previous statute of limitations for bringing disciplinary cases against Metropolitan Police Department officers and civilian employees.
Who Benefits and How
The DC police union and its represented officers benefit by regaining the right to negotiate discipline policies through collective bargaining, which was removed by the 2022 reform law. Individual Metropolitan Police officers facing potential discipline benefit from the restored statute of limitations, which makes it harder to bring older disciplinary cases against them. This reduces legal risk and compliance burden for DC police officers.
Who Bears the Burden and How
DC police accountability advocates and oversight bodies face increased barriers to holding officers accountable, as the restored statute of limitations may prevent some disciplinary cases from being pursued. The DC Office of Police Complaints and other disciplinary authorities face increased compliance burdens in pursuing discipline cases under the pre-2022 rules. DC residents and officials who supported the 2022 police reform law see key accountability measures reversed.
Key Provisions
- Repeals section 1708(c) of the DC Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act, which had removed police discipline from collective bargaining
- Repeals Subtitle M of the 2022 Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act, which changed statute of limitations rules
- Restores all previous law that was amended or repealed by Subtitle M, effectively reversing those 2022 reforms
- Applies specifically to law enforcement personnel of the District of Columbia, including Metropolitan Police Department members and civilian employees
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Restores collective bargaining rights for DC police discipline matters and reinstates statute of limitations for disciplinary cases that were changed by 2022 police reform law
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Roll back specific police accountability measures from 2022 DC reform law by restoring pre-2022 rules on collective bargaining and statute of limitations"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Police unions (DC police union)
- Individual DC police officers facing discipline
- Metropolitan Police Department management
Likely Burden Bearers
- Police accountability advocates
- DC residents seeking police discipline
- DC government officials who passed 2022 reforms
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
sec. 1-617.08, D.C. Official Code, specifically section 1708 governing labor-management relations
D.C. Law 24-345, a local DC police reform law enacted in 2022
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology