WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Trump has ordered the shutdown of the first nationwide database that tracks misconduct by federal police officers. The move fulfills a campaign promise to reverse police reforms that came out of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
David Thomas has decades of experience working in law enforcement. He’s currently retired and now teaches at Florida Gulf Coast University, but says he believes the national law enforcement accountability database tracking misconduct by federal police officers should be kept running.
You’re just letting one bad apple move from one agency to the next,” Thomas said.
The Justice Department confirmed to the Washington Post that the database has been shut down by President Trump.
The White house responding via email to the Post’s story, writing in part, “President Trump believes in an appropriate balance of accountability without compromising law enforcement’s ability to do its job of fighting crime and keeping communities safe.
Patrick Oliver, a retired police chief and director of the criminal justice program at Cedarville University tells us, that databases like these, can be extremely useful.
“A national database on law enforcement officers who have been either decertified or convicted of crimes can be helpful in police hiring for those law enforcement agencies hiring people from out of state,” Oliver said.
But the White House tells the Washington Post, that President Trump rescinded the order on day one, “because he is committed to giving our brave men and women of law enforcement the tools they need to stop crime.
Since the database launched in 2023, 90 executive branch agencies with law enforcement officers, provided thousands of disciplinary records. The database includes nearly 150,000 federal officers and agents.