(a) The Authority is authorized to establish and maintain a regular police department, to be known as the District of Columbia Housing Authority Police Department, to provide protection for its residents, employees, and properties, both real and personal. The DCHAPD shall be composed of both uniformed and plainclothes personnel. The DCHAPD shall be charged with the duty of enforcing laws, ordinances, rules, and regulations of the Authority. Members of the DCHAPD shall have the power to execute any traffic citation or any criminal process (misdemeanor or felony) issued by any court of the District, or any felony, misdemeanor, or other offense against District laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations. The jurisdiction of the DCHAPD shall be concurrent with that of the Metropolitan Police Department and coextensive with the territorial boundaries of the District of Columbia.

(b) The members of the DCHAPD shall have concurrent jurisdiction in the performance of their duties with the duly constituted law enforcement agencies of the District. Nothing contained in this section shall either relieve any agency from its duty to provide police, fire, or other public safety service and protection, or limit, restrict, or interfere with the jurisdiction or performance of duties by existing police, fire, and other public safety agencies.

(c) A member of the DCHAPD shall have the same powers, including the power of arrest, and shall be subject to the same limitations, including regulatory limitations, in the performance of his or her duties as a member of the Metropolitan Police Department. Members of the DCHAPD are authorized to carry and use only such weapons, including handguns, as are issued by the Authority. Members of the DCHAPD are authorized to carry issued weapons both on and off duty in the District and are subject to such additional limitations as are imposed on the Metropolitan Police Department in accordance with § 22-4505.

(d) Upon the apprehension or arrest of any person by a member of the DCHAPD, the officer, as required by the laws of the District, shall either issue a summons or a citation to the person, book the person, or deliver the person to the Metropolitan Police Department for disposition as required by law.

(e)(1) The Authority shall have the power to adopt rules and regulations and to establish fines for the safe, convenient, and orderly use of the Housing Properties owned, managed, or operated by the Authority, including the protection of the Authority’s residents, employees, and property (real and personal), and the control of traffic and parking in, on, or around the Housing Properties owned, managed, or operated by the Authority. If any such rules and regulations contravene the laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations of the District which are existing or subsequently enacted, the laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations of the District shall apply and the conflicting rule or regulation, or portion thereof, of the Authority shall be void.

(2) The rules and regulations established under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be adopted and published in accordance with the standards of due process, including the publication or circulation of a notice of the intended action of the Authority in the District of Columbia Register. The adoption and publication of rules and regulations shall afford to interested persons the opportunity to submit statements orally or in writing. After adoption, the rules and regulations shall be published in the District of Columbia Register.

(3) Any person violating any rule or regulation established under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall, upon a civil judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction, pay a fine of not more than $500, plus costs.

(f) With respect to members of the DCHAPD, the Authority shall:

(1) Establish classifications based on the nature and scope of duties and fix and provide for their qualifications, appointment, removal, tenure, term, compensation, pension, and retirement benefits;

(2) Provide training and, for this purpose, the Authority may enter into contracts or agreements with any public or private organization engaged in police training. The training and the qualifications of the uniformed and plainclothes personnel shall at least be equal to the requirements of the Metropolitan Police Department for its personnel performing comparable duties;

(3) Prescribe distinctive uniforms to be worn; and

(4) Prescribe vehicles to be used, and a distinctive license tag to be affixed thereto.

(g) The Authority shall have the power to enter into agreements with public safety agencies, including those of the federal government, for the delineation of the responsibilities of the DCHAPD and with duly constituted police, fire, and other public safety agencies for mutual assistance.

(h) Before entering upon the duties of office, each member of the DCHAPD shall take or subscribe to an oath of affirmation, in the presence of a person authorized to administer oaths, to faithfully perform the duties of that office.

(i)(1) Retired police officers of the Metropolitan Police Department may be employed as members of the DCHAPD.

(A) Except for disability annuitants, police officers retired from the Metropolitan Police Department shall be eligible for rehire as members of the DCHAPD without jeopardy to any retirement benefits of the police officers.

(B) Service shall not count as creditable service for the purposes of § 5-704.

(2) All costs associated with the hiring of retired police officers as members of the DCHAPD shall be paid by the Authority.

(j) Members of the DCHAPD shall be subject fully to the authority of the Police Complaint Board pursuant to Chapter 11 of Title 5. For the purposes of the Police Complaint Board, the Chief of the DCHAPD shall perform the duties of the Chief of Police of the Metropolitan Police Department for the members of the DCHAPD.

(May 9, 2000, D.C. Law 13-105, § 24, 47 DCR 1325; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-191, § 28, 53 DCR 6794.)

This section is referenced in § 6-201.

D.C. Law 16-191, in subsec. (j), substituted “Police Complaint Board” for “Citizen Complaint Review Board (‘CCRB’)” in the first sentence, and substituted “Police Complaint Board” for “CCRB” in the second sentence.