The District of Columbia's police watchdog says Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers have been stopping drivers and writing window tint tickets without measuring the glass. The Police Complaints Board published Policy Report #26-4, "Window Tint Enforcement", on September 29, 2026.
What the report found
MPD's own traffic order (General Order 303.01) says an officer who suspects illegal tint must tell the driver the glass will be measured, measure it with a department-issued tint meter, and only then write a Notice of Infraction. The report describes seven complaint cases from 2016 to 2025 where that didn't happen. Officers wrote tickets by eye, one gave a driver a $1,000 ticket under a regulation repealed years earlier (the fine in the code is $50), and one held a driver for more than an hour waiting for a dog unit without ever testing the tint.
Officers also told drivers that a front windshield can't have any tint. That is wrong. D.C. Code § 50-2207.02 sets the same limit for the windshield as for the front side windows: both must let in at least 70% of light, with darker tint allowed only above the AS-1 line or in the top five inches. The report points to an MPD Instagram video that repeats the mistake.
As of August 2026 the Office of Police Complaints had at least 10 open cases about tint stops. In more than half, officers went straight to questions about weapons or drugs and never checked the tint.
What the board recommends
- No stops primarily for tint without a tint meter and the training to use it.
- Fix academy training, roll-call guidance and public information so they stop saying windshields can't be tinted.
- Rewrite the general order so a measured violation always gets a ticket or a written warning.
- Review tint stops regularly (race, location, outcome) for signs of biased policing.
According to the report, MPD agreed with all four recommendations and said it would remind officers, run a roll-call refresher and update the order.
What didn't change
The law is the same. Cars in DC must let in at least 70% of light through the windshield and front side windows and 50% through the rear windows; minivans get 55% in front and 35% behind the driver. A ticket is $50, and the vehicle must pass an inspection within five business days or the owner faces fines of up to $1,000, and up to $5,000 after that. Out-of-state cars must meet DC's limits while driving or parked in the District, even if they are legal at home. Our page has the full rules: District of Columbia window tint law.
Sources
- Police Complaints Board, Policy Report #26-4: Window Tint Enforcement (PDF, September 2026)
- Office of Police Complaints news release, September 29, 2026
- FOX 5 DC: Watchdog group reports issues with DC Police window tint enforcement (September 29, 2026)
- D.C. Code § 50-2207.02, Tinted windows prohibited
