Department of Justice Removes Database Tracking Federal Police Misconduct

Federal officials took down the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database.
Department of Justice Removes Database Tracking Federal Police Misconduct
The Department of Justice in Washington on Feb. 12, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
Zachary Stieber
Updated:
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has removed a database that tracked misconduct by federal law enforcement officers.

The National Law Enforcement Accountability Database was taken down in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump, the DOJ said in a website notice.

The notice said the database was no longer active and was being decommissioned.

It’s not clear when exactly the database was taken down. Archived versions of the database show it was active in late January.

The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump on Jan. 20 rescinded some previous orders, including a May 2022 order from then-President Joe Biden that established the database.

Biden’s order directed the attorney general to include in the database “official records documenting officer misconduct, including, as appropriate: records of criminal convictions; suspension of a law enforcement officer’s enforcement authorities, such as de-certification; terminations; civil judgments, including amounts (if publicly available), related to official duties; and resignations or retirements while under investigation for serious misconduct or sustained complaints or records of disciplinary action based on findings of serious misconduct.”

Trump initially ordered the creation of such a database during his first term.

Trump did not specifically explain why he was rescinding Biden’s order. In his reasoning for rescinding all of the orders, he said that the Biden administration “has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government.”

He also said he wanted to “commence the policies that will make our Nation united, fair, safe, and prosperous again” and “restore common sense to the Federal Government and unleash the potential of the American citizen.”

“The revocations within this order will be the first of many steps the United States Federal Government will take to repair our institutions and our economy,” the Jan. 20 order stated.

The database was launched in December 2023. As of Sept. 20, 2024, there were nearly 4,800 records of misconduct by federal officers, according to the DOJ.

By that time, all 90 executive branch agencies that employ law enforcement officers—as required by the order—as well as four additional federal agencies that were not required to had reported data to the database.

The database covered some 150,000 officers in the executive branch, including FBI agents.

Some groups had criticized the database. The National Association of Police Organizations said in a recent letter to the DOJ that it included “minor incidents” that could cause the reputations of good officers to suffer. The association did not respond to a request for comment on the database being removed.
A separate database, the National Decertification Index, which is run by an association outside the government and contains reports on misconduct by officers from state agencies, is still running.
Zachary Stieber
Zachary Stieber
Senior Reporter
Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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