President Donald Trump and the Justice Department have officially dismantled the first-ever nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal law enforcement, the DOJ confirmed to The Washington Post on Thursday.
Originally established to prevent problematic officers from transferring between agencies undetected, the database was a direct response to the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin. Ironically, it was Trump himself who initially proposed the idea during his first term in 2020. However, the database wasn’t implemented until President Joe Biden signed an executive order creating the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database. Last month, Trump issued an order revoking Biden’s directives, effectively shutting down the database.
Although the system was limited to federal officers, excluding state, local, and county law enforcement, it tracked nearly 150,000 federal officers and agents. This included personnel from agencies such as the FBI, IRS, and even the Railroad Retirement Board.
Despite its short lifespan—it launched in December 2023—the database had already compiled disciplinary records from all 90 executive branch agencies with law enforcement officers, dating back to 2017. This was detailed in a Justice Department report released in December.
Trump’s decision to revoke Biden’s executive order was part of a broader effort to significantly reduce federal government operations. The now-repealed order had outlined measures to refine use-of-force policies, promote research, enforce body camera protocols, and mandate anti-bias training—alongside the creation of the misconduct database.
According to The Washington Post, both the Justice Department and The White House declined to explain their rationale for shutting down the system. Trump’s executive order, signed on January 20, nullified multiple Biden-era policies, describing them as “deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical.” Meanwhile, at least one police advocacy group had raised concerns about the database, arguing that officers were not given an opportunity to dispute the information before it was recorded, the Post reported.
Sources - https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/02/20/trump-justice-nlead-database-deleted/
https://bjs.ojp.gov/national-law-enforcement-accountability-database
https://www.nlead.gov/
Last modified: February 28, 2025
