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Current through October 23, 2012
(a)(1) The Metropolitan Police Department shall electronically record, in their entirety, and to the greatest extent feasible, custodial interrogations of persons suspected of committing a crime of violence, as that term is defined in § 23-1331(4), when the interrogation takes place in Metropolitan Police Department interview rooms equipped with electronic recording equipment.
(2) The recording required by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall commence with the first contact between the suspect and law enforcement personnel once the suspect has been placed in the interview room and shall include all subsequent contacts between the suspect and law enforcement personnel in the interview room.
(3) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the Metropolitan Police Department from recording the actions of the suspect while law enforcement personnel are not in the interview room.
(b) The recording required by subsection (a) of this section shall include the giving of any warnings as to rights required by law, the response of the suspect to such warnings, and the consent, if any, of the suspect to the interrogation. If the required warnings have been given prior to placing the suspect in the interview room, the suspect shall be asked to affirm that he was informed of and waived those rights.
(c)(1) If, after a suspect has been given the warnings as to rights required by law and voluntarily waived such rights, the suspect announces that the suspect will voluntarily speak with law enforcement personnel only on the express condition that the interrogation not be further recorded, the remainder of the interrogation need not be recorded. In such a case, the giving of any warnings, the suspect's response, the suspect's conditional consent, and all events preceding the conditional consent shall be recorded.
(2) Law enforcement personnel shall not expressly or implicitly encourage the suspect to give such conditional consent in lieu of a completely recorded interrogation.
(Apr. 13, 2005, D.C. Law 15-351, § 101, 52 DCR 2275.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Legislative History of Laws
Law 15-351, the "Electronic Recording Procedures Act of 2004", was introduced in Council and assigned Bill No. 15-1073 which was referred to the Committee on Judiciary. The Bill was adopted on first and second readings on December 7, 2004, and December 21, 2004, respectively. Signed by the Mayor on February 1, 2005, it was assigned Act No. 15-751 and transmitted to both Houses of Congress for its review. D.C. Law 15-351 became effective on April 13, 2005.
