The second presidential term of Donald Trump led to the discontinuation of a national database designed to monitor misconduct among federal police. Advocates for policing reform viewed this database as a vital tool to prevent officers with histories of misconduct from transitioning unnoticed between agencies.
According to a report by the Washington Post, the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD), which compiled records of police misconduct, is currently unavailable.
The U.S. Justice Department also confirmed the closure of the database in an online statement.
“User agencies can no longer query or contribute data to the NLEAD,” stated the Justice Department. “The US Department of Justice is decommissioning the NLEAD in line with federal standards.”
The link to the database is no longer operational.
This misconduct database was the first of its kind, though it was not made publicly accessible. Law enforcement agencies utilized the NLEAD to verify if candidates for police positions had prior misconduct incidents, such as excessive force.
Numerous experts praised the establishment of the NLEAD by Joe Biden through an executive order in 2023, during his third year in office.
“Law enforcement agencies will henceforth be unable to overlook records of misconduct during officer hiring, and offending officers will not be able to evade accountability for their actions,” remarked Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, when the database was launched.
However, Trump has since revoked Biden’s executive order as part of a broader initiative to downsize federal agencies. Notably, Trump initially suggested the creation of the database following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, just months before losing the presidential election to Biden that November.
In a statement emailed to the Washington Post, the White House confirmed the removal of the database.
“President Trump advocates for a suitable balance of accountability that does not hinder law enforcement’s capacity to fight crime and protect communities,” the statement indicated. “However, the Biden executive order that established this database was rife with woke, anti-police notions that undermine community safety, such as calls for ‘equitable’ policing and tackling ‘systemic racism in our criminal justice system.’ President Trump annulled the order establishing this database on his first day as he is committed to equipping our dedicated law enforcement personnel with the necessary tools to combat crime.”
after newsletter promotion
Reports of the NLEAD’s elimination arrive at a time when police misconduct persists within American law enforcement. In Hanceville, Alabama, for example, an entire police department was recently put on leave as a grand jury investigation revealed a pervasive culture of corruption.
The grand jury, composed of 18 members, has called for the disbandment of the Hanceville police department, which has a mere eight officers.
This investigation was prompted by the death of 49-year-old Christopher Michael Willingham, a dispatcher in Hanceville, who was found deceased at work due to a lethal mix of drugs.
Additionally, the department was ruled to have “failed to account for, preserve and maintain evidence, thereby failing both crime victims and the general public,” according to the grand jury’s findings.
