On February 21, the Justice Department confirmed that it shut down the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD)—the first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police officers, according to the Washington Post here. A weblink that hosted the database is no longer active.
President Trump had proposed creating a database “on instances of excessive use of force related to law enforcement matters” in June 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. The database was formally created by President Biden’s EO 14074, issued May 25, 2022, Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety. Among other things, the EO laid out steps to improve use-of-force standards and research, ensured appropriate use of body cameras, and required anti-bias training, in addition to establishing “a centralized repository of official records documenting instances of law enforcement officer misconduct.”
The NLEAD encompassed around 150,000 federal officers and agenda, including current and former federal law enforcement officers who have records related to one of the following categories:
- Criminal convictions
- Suspension of a law enforcement officer’s enforcement authorities (e.g., decertification)
- Terminations related to misconduct
- Civil judgments, including amounts (if publicly available), related to official duties
- Resignations or retirements while under investigation for serious misconduct
- Sustained complaints or records of disciplinary action based on findings of serious misconduct
- Commendations and awards.
As of September 2024, there were 4,790 records of federal officer misconduct between 2018 and 2023 in the database, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report issued in December 2024. The NLEAD was not publicly available, but law enforcement agencies could use the NLEAD to check if an officer applying for a law enforcement position had committed misconduct, such as excessive force. It was considered by some experts as an important tool in helping to keep officers with serious histories of misconduct from rejoining the profession.
EO 14074 was revoked by President Trump on January 20, 2025. The NLEAD is no longer active. User agencies can no longer query or add data to the NLEAD and DOJ is “decommissioning the NLEAD in accordance with federal standards.” The deletion of the NLEAD does not affect the National Decertification Index, a national registry of state and local police officers who have lost their certification or licensing because of misconduct.