(a) Whoever, with deliberate and premeditated malice, and with knowledge or reason to know that the victim is a law enforcement officer or public safety employee, kills any law enforcement officer or public safety employee engaged in, or on account of, the performance of such officer’s or employee’s official duties, is guilty of murder of a law enforcement officer or public safety employee, and shall be sentenced to life without the possibility of release. It shall not be a defense to this charge that the victim was acting unlawfully by seizing or attempting to seize the defendant or another person.

(b) For the purposes of subsection (a) of this section, the term:

(1) “Law enforcement officer” means:

(A) A sworn member of the Metropolitan Police Department;

(B) A sworn member of the District of Columbia Protective Services;

(C) The Director, deputy directors, and officers of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections;

(D) Any probation, parole, supervised release, community supervision, or pretrial services officer of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency or The Pretrial Services Agency;

(E) Metro Transit police officers; and

(F) Any federal, state, county, or municipal officer performing functions comparable to those performed by the officers described in subparagraphs (A), (C), (D), (E), and (F) of this paragraph, including but not limited to state, county, or municipal police officers, sheriffs, correctional officers, parole officers, and probation and pretrial service officers.

(2) “Public safety employee” means:

(A) A District of Columbia firefighter, emergency medical technician/paramedic, emergency medical technician/intermediate paramedic, or emergency medical technician; and

(B) Any federal, state, county, or municipal officer performing functions comparable to those performed by the District of Columbia employees described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.

(c) In addition to any other penalty provided under this section, a person may be fined an amount not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01.

(Mar. 3, 1901, 31 Stat. 1321, ch. 854, § 802a; as added May 23, 1995, D.C. Law 10-256, § 2(d), 42 DCR 20; Oct. 17, 2002, D.C. Law 14-194, § 154, 49 DCR 5306; June 11, 2013, D.C. Law 19-317, § 303(c), 60 DCR 2064.)

1981 Ed., § 22-2406.

This section is referenced in § 22-3152, § 23-113, § 24-112, and § 24-403.01.

D.C. Law 14-194 rewrote the section.

The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-317 added (c).

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 303(c) of the Criminal Fine Proportionality Emergency Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-45, April 1, 2013, 60 DCR 5400, 20 DCSTAT 1300).

Applicability of D.C. Law 19-317: Section 401 of D.C. Law 19-317 provided that the act shall apply only to offenses committed on or after June 11, 2013.