On May 25, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., issued Executive Order (EO) 14074, Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices To Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety. One goal of the EO was to “commit to new practices in law enforcement recruitment, hiring, promotion, and retention, as well as training, oversight, and accountability.” 1 To help accomplish this goal, Section 5 of the EO directed the U.S. Attorney General to establish the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD) as “a centralized repository of official records documenting instances of law enforcement officer misconduct as well as commendations and awards.”2 The Justice Management Division (JMD) was given responsibility for developing and maintaining the NLEAD, which was launched on December 18, 2023. 3
The NLEAD includes 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.
The EO also directed the U.S. Attorney General to publish on at least an annual basis a report that contains data from the NLEAD in a manner that does not jeopardize law enforcement officer anonymity due to the size of the agency or other factors. BJS was given responsibility for producing the annual report. JMD provides BJS access to a limited-variable version of the NLEAD for the purposes of developing the report.
For more information on the NLEAD, please visit: https://nlead.gov.
______________
2Ibid
3See Justice Department Launches National Law Enforcement Accountability Database