The Trump Administration’s Justice Department has deleted the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, the nationwide database that has tracked police misconduct since 2023, when it was put into place by President Joe Biden.
According to The Washington Post, the Justice Department dismantled the database in accordance with a January executive order from Donald Trump, which undid all of Biden’s executive orders.
Ironically, Trump first proposed the national database himself in 2020 as the country was dealing with the reaction to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of the police.
The White House defended its actions via a lengthy statement to the outlet, casting the Biden Administration era database as “woke” and “anti-police.”
“President Trump believes in an appropriate balance of accountability without compromising law enforcement’s ability to do its job of fighting crime and keeping communities safe,” the White house said via email.
The White House continued, “But the Biden executive order creating this database was full of woke, anti-police concepts that make communities less safe like a call for ‘equitable’ policing and addressing ‘systemic racism in our criminal justice system.’ President Trump rescinded the order creating this database on Day 1 because he is committed to giving our brave men and women of law enforcement the tools they need to stop crime.”The justification from the White House was met with criticism from several police reform experts, even if they weren’t necessarily surprised by the administration’s move to end the program.
Lauren Bonds, the executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, told the Washington Post that the move from the Trump Administration is the latest example that neither Trump nor his administration is concerned about the civil rights of vulnerable citizens. “Trump has made clear through actions such as this that he doesn’t think law enforcement accountability advances public safety.”
Although the database contains only federal officers, Bonds noted that it covers “a potentially impactful group who can impact a lot of vulnerable people’s civil rights” in areas like immigration and Border Patrol. “Even though databases are the bare minimum of tracking, it’s a low bar, but it’s still a bar we should have in place,” Bonds said.
According to Trevor Hugh Davis, a research scientist at the University of Notre Dame, who discovered that the database had been down since Jan. 24, the deletion of the database represents a tremendous loss.
“We have lost countless records of disciplinary actions, terminations, complaints and settlements related to police misconduct,” Davis said. “Officers with serious misconduct histories often move between departments. Despite its limitations, it addressed a real problem — rehiring officers who had been fired or resigned for misconduct … its removal sends a clear message about the new administration’s priorities.”
The database had been criticized by police unions, which, more correctly, should be understood as lobbyists for the interests of police officers, even those who have engaged in misconduct.
One of the more prominent organizations, the National Association of Police Organizations, wrote several letters to the Biden Administration, dating back to 2022.
In January, executive director William J. Johnson wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland, arguing that administrative infractions shouldn’t be inclined in the database and officers should get due process in order to challenge their inclusion in the database.
“Our comments and recommendations on the establishment of a National Law Enforcement Accountability Database have been largely disregarded,” Johnson wrote in the letter. “As representatives of rank-and-file officers, it is incredibly concerning that their voices are being ignored.”
In contrast to the alleged recommendations by Johnson, Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Forum, told the Washington Post
that the database contains vital information, which police departments can use to avoid hiring unsuitable candidates.“This database helps law enforcement agencies ensure they are not hiring officers who have been criminally charged, fired for misconduct, or are otherwise unsuitable candidates,” Wexler said. “Problem officers tend to move from agency to agency, and police chiefs and sheriffs want access to any information that can help them avoid hiring a problem officer.”
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