President Trump’s deletion of a federal police misconduct database has sparked debate between law enforcement supporters and accountability advocates.

At a Glance

• Trump decommissioned the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD) that contained over 5,200 instances of federal officer misconduct
• The White House criticized the database for promoting “woke, anti-police concepts” that made communities less safe
• The Bureau of Prisons and Customs and Border Protection accounted for over 70% of misconduct records in the database
• Critics argue the elimination makes it harder to track problematic officers moving between agencies
• The non-federal National Decertification Index for state and local officers remains operational

Database Elimination Part of Broader Policy Reversal

President Donald Trump ordered the deletion of the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD) as one of his first actions upon returning to the White House. The database, established in 2023 under President Biden’s executive order on police reform, had cataloged more than 5,200 instances of misconduct by federal law enforcement officers. The move was part of Trump’s broader effort to roll back Biden-era police reform measures that his administration characterized as promoting “unlawful and radical DEI ideology.”

The White House defended the decision in a statement explaining that the 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 President Trump rescinded the order creating this database on Day 1 because he is committed to giving our brave men and women of law enforcement the tools they need to stop crime.”

Yes, the U.S. Department of Justice has recently deleted the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD), which tracked misconduct by federal law enforcement officers. This action followed President Trump’s revocation of the executive order that established the…

— Isaac Hayes III (@IsaacHayes3) February 26, 2025

Bureau of Prisons and Border Protection Most Represented in Database

According to reporting by The Appeal, the majority of misconduct instances recorded in the now-deleted database involved employees from two federal agencies. “BOP and CBP employees comprised more than 70 percent of the more than 5,200 misconduct instances recorded in NLEAD between 2017 and 2024,” with Bureau of Prisons officers accounting for more than half of all entries. Critics suggest the database’s elimination primarily benefits these large federal agencies with documented accountability issues.

“[It’s] the public and law enforcement demand for accountability,” said Brian Grisham, quoted in NPR’s reporting on the database’s elimination.

The removal of NLEAD raises concerns about the ability of law enforcement agencies to identify job applicants with problematic histories, particularly when officers attempt to move between federal agencies after misconduct incidents. Without a centralized record system, critics worry that problem officers may more easily find new positions without adequate scrutiny of their professional history.

The Trump administration’s Justice Department deleted the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, which tracked police misconduct since 2023, citing it as “woke” and “anti-police.” https://t.co/mLZ9aLhOh5 pic.twitter.com/2Kbc8PMNrD

— Black Enterprise (@blackenterprise) February 26, 2025

Trump’s Earlier Support for Tracking Police Misconduct

In a noteworthy shift from his current position, Trump had previously supported creating a misconduct database during his first administration. In 2020, the Trump White House proposed plans to “create a database to coordinate the sharing of information between and among Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies concerning instances of excessive use of force related to law enforcement matters, accounting for applicable privacy and due process rights.”

Some observers note that Biden’s NLEAD was actually less comprehensive than Trump’s original proposal. The Biden-era database focused exclusively on federal law enforcement with limited access, while Trump’s 2020 plan called for a more expansive system that would have included state and local officers. Federal law enforcement unions consistently opposed the database, citing concerns about minor infractions being included and potential lack of due process for officers.

State and Local Misconduct Tracking Continues

While the federal misconduct database has been eliminated, local police departments can still use the National Decertification Index (NDI) to check officers’ records across states. This system, operated by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), is unlikely to be affected by Trump’s actions as it’s run by a non-federal membership group and doesn’t rely on federal funding.

Usage of the NDI has increased dramatically in recent years, with adoption by police departments jumping from 23% to 71% over the past five years. Other aspects of Biden’s 2022 “police accountability” executive order may also remain in effect despite the formal revocation, as many measures have already been implemented. For example, policies requiring the use of body-worn cameras by federal agencies like the U.S. Marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement remain operational.