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District of Columbia Code Division I. Government of District. § 5-1111. Complaint investigation, findings, and determination.

Current as of January 01, 2024 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

<Text of section applicable upon the date of inclusion of the fiscal effect of D.C. Law 24-345 in an approved budget and financial plan. See, also, section 5-1111 applicable until the date of inclusion of the fiscal effect of D.C. Law 24-345 in an approved budget and financial plan.>

(a) If the Executive Director refers a complaint for investigation, the Executive Director shall assign an investigator to investigate the complaint.

(b) If the complainant refuses to cooperate in the investigation, the Executive Director may dismiss the complaint in accordance with §§ 5-1107 and 5-1108.

(c)(1)(A) The Executive Director is authorized to cause the issuance of subpoenas under the seal of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia compelling the complainant, the subject officer or officers, witnesses, and other persons to respond to written or oral questions or to produce relevant documents or other evidence as may be necessary for the proper investigation and determination of a complaint.

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, the Executive Director shall not seek subpoenas against a complainant who submitted an application anonymously, as described in 5-1107(e)(2).

(2)(A) The service of any such subpoena on a subject police officer or any other employee of the MPD, DCHAPD, or OIG may be effected by service on the designated agency principal or their designee, who shall deliver the subpoena to the subject police officer or employee.

(B) The designated agency principal or their designee shall transmit the return of service to the Office.

(3) Statements made pursuant to a subpoena shall be given under oath or affirmation.

(d)(1)(A) Employees of the MPD, DCHAPD, and OIG shall cooperate fully with the Office in the investigation and adjudication of a complaint.

(B) Upon notification by the Executive Director that an MPD, DCHAPD, or OIG employee has not cooperated as requested, the designated agency principal shall cause appropriate disciplinary action to be instituted against the employee, and shall notify the Executive Director of the outcome of such action.

(2)(A) An employee of the MPD, DCHAPD, or OIG shall not retaliate, directly or indirectly, against a person who files a complaint under this subchapter.

(B) If a complaint of retaliation is sustained under this act, the subject police officer or employee shall be subject to appropriate discipline, including dismissal; provided, that such disciplinary action shall not be taken with respect to an employee's invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

(e) When the investigator completes the investigation, the investigator shall summarize the results of the investigation in an investigative report which, along with the investigative file, shall be transmitted to the Executive Director. After reviewing the investigative report and the investigative file, the Executive Director may dismiss the complaint in accordance with §§ 5-1107 and 5-1108, may direct the investigator to undertake additional investigation, or may refer the complaint to a complaint examiner designated by the Executive Director to determine the merits of the complaint.

(f) Upon receiving a complaint, a complaint examiner may request that the Executive Director order additional investigation, may proceed to determine the merits of the complaint in a fair and expeditious manner based on the investigative report and the investigative file, or may hold an evidentiary hearing. If the complaint examiner determines that an evidentiary hearing is necessary to determine fairly the merits of a complaint, the testimony at such hearing shall be under oath or affirmation, and the parties may be represented by counsel. A complaint examiner shall have the authority to administer an oath or affirmation to a witness.

(g) If, after the Executive Director assigns a complaint to a complaint examiner, the parties indicate to the complaint examiner that they are willing to resolve the complaint through conciliation or mediation, the complaint examiner may act as a conciliator or mediator. If a party already is represented by counsel, that party may continue to be represented by counsel during this conciliation or mediation process. If one party is represented by counsel and the other party is not so represented, the complaint examiner shall, upon request, give the unrepresented party a reasonable time to obtain counsel before commencing the mediation or conciliation process. Any resulting written conciliation or mediation agreement may be confidential as provided in § 5-1110(h), and neither any such agreement nor any oral nor written statement made by a party during the course of the conciliation or mediation process may be used as a basis for any discipline or recommended discipline of the subject police officer or officers or in any civil or criminal litigation, except as otherwise provided by the rules of court or the rules of evidence.

(h)(1) Upon review of the investigative file and the evidence adduced at any evidentiary hearing, and in the absence of the resolution of the complaint by conciliation or mediation, the complaint examiner shall make written findings of fact regarding all material issues of fact and determine whether the facts found sustain or do not sustain each allegation of misconduct.

(2) In making that determination, the complaint examiner may consider any MPD, DCHAPD, or OIG regulation, policy, or order that prescribes standards of conduct for law enforcement officers.

(3) For the purposes of this act, these written findings of fact and determinations by the complaint examiner (collectively, “merits determination”) may not be rejected unless they clearly misapprehend the record before the complaint examiner and are not supported by substantial, reliable, and probative evidence in that record.

(i)(1)(A) If the complaint examiner determines that one or more allegations in the complaint is sustained, the Executive Director shall transmit the entire complaint file, including the merits determination of the complaint examiner and the Executive Director's recommendation for the discipline to be imposed on the subject police officer, to the designated agency principal for appropriate action.

(B) To assist the Executive Director in making an informed recommendation of the discipline to be imposed on a subject police officer, the Executive Director shall have access to:

(i) The most current Table of Offenses and Penalties Guide in General Order 120.21 (Disciplinary Procedures and Processes), or any successor document; and

(ii) The subject police officer's complete personnel file, including any record of prior misconduct and adverse or corrective action.

(2) If the complaint examiner determines that no allegation in the complaint is sustained, the Executive Director shall dismiss the complaint and notify the parties and the designated agency principal in writing of such dismissal with a copy of the merits determination.

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - District of Columbia Code Division I. Government of District. § 5-1111. Complaint investigation, findings, and determination. - last updated January 01, 2024 | https://codes.findlaw.com/dc/division-i-government-of-district/dc-code-sect-5-1111/

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