By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO
The Trump administration has taken steps to dismantle the national police misconduct database, a tool created to track bad actors in law enforcement. The database, known as the National Decertification Index (NDI), was designed to provide transparency and prevent officers who were decertified due to misconduct from moving between police departments without their history being known.
U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.-4) told the AFRO that the dismantling of the database “doesn’t make sense.”
“I’m not sure why they think that’s a good idea, because if you have a police officer who’s gotten in trouble at one police department, anybody who wants to hire that person later, especially to be another police officer again, should have the full information,” said Ivey.
“To not share that information, I think, puts the public at risk, [especially] the African-American community,” he added.
The NDI was created under the Obama administration in 2015 to serve as a comprehensive record of officers who had lost their law enforcement certification due to unethical or criminal behavior. The database aimed to increase accountability and transparency within law enforcement agencies to ensure that officers with a history of misconduct would not be able to easily obtain new law enforcement positions without their previous conduct being taken into account.
The creation of the database was driven by several high-profile incidents of misconduct, particularly cases of police brutality. The 2014 death of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri, and the death of Eric Garner, also unarmed, in New York City, both raised national awareness about police practices and prompted widespread calls for police reform.
Brown’s shooting by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson sparked protests and led to the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement. This incident highlighted concerns over the use of excessive force by police officers, particularly against Black Americans, and contributed to the broader national conversation about police accountability.
Similarly, the death of Garner, who was placed in a chokehold by Officer Daniel Pantaleo during an arrest for allegedly selling loose cigarettes, sparked outrage and brought attention to the need for reforms in police tactics. Garner’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for advocates calling for greater scrutiny of law enforcement practices.
These and other incidents of police violence contributed to the growing demand for systems that would track police officers with a history of misconduct and help ensure that they were held accountable for their actions.
The Trump administration’s decision to dismantle the police misconduct database has raised concerns among some reform advocates. Critics of the move argue that eliminating the database minimizes the safeguards to hold law enforcement accountable and prevent officers with a history of misconduct from continuing to serve with impunity.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas-30) told the AFRO President Trump “made it clear what he was going to do” when he entered office, pointing to his administration’s rollback of civil rights protections, policing reforms and diversity initiatives.
“This was a part of Project 2025, [it] was something that I thought would really matter within the Black community, as a civil rights attorney who has had to sit there with mothers and fathers who have lost their children at the hands of police misconduct,” said the Texas congresswoman.
“We are in for a rude awakening…. We are under a Jim Crow [like-era]. They are trying to erase us, minimize us, delete us and none of it is going to happen on my watch,” added Crockett.