Donald Trump just shut down the national police misconduct database. Ironically enough, it was also Trump who urged the creation of the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database back in 2020, shortly after the murder of George Floyd. But now, apparently, he’s decided he doesn’t want information about cops’ abuse of power to be tracked after all. On January 20 he ordered NLEAD shut down, and the government webpage that used to house it now takes you to a 404 error.
It’s hard to imagine any legitimate reason for this action. In an official statement, the White House said NLEAD had been “full of woke, anti-police concepts that make communities less safe.” But it was literally just a compilation of data about actions police have taken, including when they’ve been suspended or otherwise punished, in the interest of public transparency. Removing it leaves the public in the dark, and gives abusive police more room to operate without the same level of scrutiny—like every cop in the country just covered the lens on their bodycams at once.
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