Radar Detectors Are Banned in D.C., Including Mere Possession in a Car

Section 736 sits in Chapter 7 of Title 18 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations, the chapter that governs motor vehicle equipment, and it was issued under Commissioner's Order 61-2026 effective November 21, 1961, carrying forward Article 25, § 16 of the old Police Regulations. It has three sentences and no exceptions beyond the military one, which is what makes it unusually blunt compared with the detailed equipment rules on either side of it.

Subsection 736.1 attacks the supply side: no person shall sell or offer for sale in the District any device designed to detect or counteract police radar. That reaches a District retailer or an online seller offering the device for sale here, independently of whether anyone ever fits one to a car.

Subsection 736.2 is the one drivers meet. It prohibits using or having in your possession in an automobile in the District any device used to detect or counteract police radar. The verb pair matters: possession in the automobile is enough, so switching the unit off, unplugging it or dropping it into the centre console does not take it outside the rule. A driver coming into the District with a detector fitted for use elsewhere has to take the device out of the car, not merely stop using it.

Subsection 736.3 states the only exception: the section does not apply to any vehicle or equipment used by the Armed Forces of the United States. There is no exception for commercial vehicles, rental cars, out-of-District registrations or vehicles merely passing through, and no permit route to keep one lawfully.

Two details of drafting are worth reading closely. First, the section heading reads "RADAR DETECTORS AND JAMMERS" but the operative text describes devices designed to "detect or counteract" police radar, so the jammer half of the heading is carried by the word counteract rather than by a separate sentence. Second, both subsections are written around police radar. The rule does not use the words laser or lidar, so a device that reads only laser speed measurement is not described by the text the way a radar detector plainly is.

Chapter 7 supplies the enforcement hook. 18 DCMR § 700.2 forbids driving or moving on any street or highway a vehicle that is "equipped in any manner in violation of this chapter", and adds that no person shall do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required under the chapter. 18 DCMR § 700.4 confirms that extra accessories are permitted only where they are not inconsistent with the chapter, which is exactly what a detector is.

The penalty is not where most drivers would look for it. Chapter 7 is promulgated under section 6 of the District of Columbia Traffic Act, 1925, now D.C. Code § 50-2201.03, and subsection (f) of that section supplies the general penalty: a person violating any rule promulgated under it shall, on conviction, be fined not more than the amount set by D.C. Code § 22-3571.01 or imprisoned for not more than 90 days, or both. Because the exposure is 90 days, the fine ceiling under § 22-3571.01(b)(3) is $500. Prosecution is in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on an information filed by the Office of the Attorney General.

Notably, neither of the District's civil fine schedules prices this offence. 18 DCMR § 2600, the moving-infraction schedule adopted effective August 7, 2026, and 18 DCMR § 2601, the parking and non-moving schedule effective August 2, 2024, both list equipment items such as improper lights at $75 and an obstructed windshield at $75, but neither contains an entry for a radar detector. That leaves § 50-2201.03(f) as the route, rather than a ticket a driver can simply pay.

There is no scheduled civil fine for a radar detector in the District: it is not listed in 18 DCMR § 2600 or § 2601. A violation of Chapter 7 of Title 18 DCMR is punished under D.C. Code § 50-2201.03(f), which allows a fine of up to the amount set by § 22-3571.01 plus imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both; at that exposure the fine ceiling is $500 under § 22-3571.01(b)(3), and prosecution is brought in D.C. Superior Court. The Metropolitan Police Department enforces the prohibition on the road, and 18 DCMR § 736.1 separately exposes a seller who offers a detector for sale in the District. Because 18 DCMR § 736.2 reaches possession in the automobile, an officer does not have to show the device was switched on or in use.