The Department of Justice has confirmed the shutdown of the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, marking an end to the first nationwide system tracking misconduct by federal police officers. The database, ironically proposed by former President Donald Trump in 2020 and later implemented through President Biden's executive order, was officially terminated last month.
The comprehensive database contained disciplinary records of nearly 150,000 federal officers from 90 executive branch agencies, including the FBI and IRS, with records dating back to 2017. The system aimed to prevent officers with misconduct histories from moving between agencies without scrutiny.
Though only operational since December 2023, the database was decommissioned as part of Trump's broader initiative to reduce federal government operations. The former president's January 20th executive order revoked multiple Biden administration policies, claiming they had "embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices" across federal agencies.
Police reform experts expressed disappointment over the database's closure. Thomas Abt, director of the Violence Reduction Center at the University of Maryland, emphasized that preventing officers with serious misconduct records from rejoining law enforcement serves both police and community interests.
The Justice Department and White House have not provided specific reasoning for the database's termination. However, some police advocacy groups had previously criticized the system, noting that officers lacked opportunities to challenge information before its inclusion in the database.
Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, suggested the move reflects Trump's stance against law enforcement accountability measures. The database's closure marks an end to a brief but notable effort at federal police oversight, leaving a gap in tracking officer misconduct at the federal level.