Federal Misconduct Database Deleted: A Blow to Accountability
In a move criticized by accountability advocates, the Department of Justice has deactivated the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, a system designed to prevent the rehiring of officers with misconduct records. Operational for just over a year, the database compiled disciplinary information from nearly 150,000 federal officers across 90 agencies. The White House offered no specific reasoning for its elimination, despite concerns about “wandering officers” who transfer between agencies with past misconduct. The database’s closure, however, leaves the National Decertification Index, a separate registry for state and local officers, unaffected.
John Q. Hosedrinker