Trump Reinstates Discriminatory and Unconstitutional Policing — Explained

President Biden’s executive order required records of law enforcement misconduct, terminations, civil judgments, and resignations or retirements to be included in the NLEAD while officers were under investigation for serious misconduct. The purpose of the database was for federal law enforcement agency leaders to use the database prior to making hiring and promotion decisions. With a focus on transparency and reliability, the database allowed law enforcement officers to review their records and request changes or removal if there were inaccuracies.

The database was created in response to a problem so prevalent that it has been given a name: “wandering officers.” After engaging in serious misconduct such as using excessive force, these wandering law enforcement officers would leave that department, fail to disclose the incident, and get a job at another agency. For instance, there are almost 1,100 wandering officers in any given year in Florida; in Texas, about a quarter of law enforcement officers fired for misconduct were subsequently hired by another law enforcement agency.

Prior to President Trump dismantling the database, it contained almost 5,000 qualifying incidents, the majority of which were sustained complaints of serious misconduct. Without NLEAD, federal law enforcement agencies engaging in hiring decisions may not have information of the officer’s prior misconduct, allowing bad officers to move from community to community while violating people’s rights. Shuttering the database harms everyone because both police and the communities they serve have a vested interest in preventing officers with histories of misconduct from rejoining the profession.

The Biden executive order’s directive to limit the transfer of military equipment to state and local law enforcement was done to save lives. Research demonstrates that law enforcement agencies which utilize military-grade equipment are more likely to exhibit violent behavior and more likely to kill the people they have been entrusted to protect and serve. This is particularly concerning considering that police have killed more than 1,000 people year after year, with 2024 seeing more than 1,300 people killed; Black people are killed by police at more than double the rate of white people.

Over the past several decades, many of the 18,000 police departments across the country have amassed military-grade weapons, equipment and armor. The federal government has provided this equipment, valued at over $7 billion, to agencies in 49 states free of charge. This is not limited to large cities; police agencies in towns with populations of only a few hundred people are also outfitted with military gear. Military-grade equipment is unsuitable for normal policing. In theory, this equipment was meant to arm police for uniquely dangerous situations, such as active shooters. Unfortunately, once it is on-site, law enforcement overutilize this equipment. For example, this equipment has been used again and again in police responses to peaceful protests. Furthermore, in 2020, we saw police using military-style force to quell protests — dressed in military gear, shooting protesters with rubber bullets, spraying them with tear gas, and using brutal force.

As a DOJ task force stated: “Law enforcement cannot build community trust if it is seen as an occupying force coming in from outside to rule and control the community.” However, the number of police agencies with SWAT teams possessing military dress and weapons increased by 1,500% from 1980 to 2000. This militarization has caused a significant cultural shift in how law enforcement views itself. Gone are the days of self-identifying as guardians of a community and peace, instead ushering in an era of a warrior mindset. Police training is now modeled on military boot camp with an “us versus them” mantra. This has profoundly changed both the way police and the community view each other and interact. The consequence of this warrior mindset is an overwhelming increase in the use of violent and deadly force against the community.

No-knock warrants are an increasingly used exception to the longstanding common law of “knock and announce,” which requires law enforcement to first knock and identify themselves and then wait a reasonable amount of time for someone to answer the door.

No-knock warrants put the occupants of the home in great danger. In one high-profile example, the police executed a no-knock warrant by forcibly entering an apartment after midnight without first announcing themselves, then shot Breonna Taylor eight times; she was not the target of the warrant. It is not hard to understand that this tragedy would have been avoided if they had not used a no-knock warrant. By their very design, no-knock warrants are intended to create chaos and confusion. They are often executed in the middle of the night when people are sleeping. Imagine how disorienting and frightening it would be to be woken up in the middle of the night to screams, flashbangs, guns and blinding flashlights.

The rise of no-knock warrants proliferated with the rise of the so-called “War on Drugs” and the use of militarized SWAT teams. It is estimated that the use of militarized SWAT teams to execute warrants increased from about 1,500 a year in the early 1980s to over 60,000 a year in 2010. While no states track the use of these types of warrants, it is estimated that at least 81 civilians were killed by police executing no-knock warrants between 2010 and 2016. About 42% of no-knock warrants are executed against Black people, even though only 13% of the U.S. population is Black. The use of no-knock warrants must be curtailed to save lives.

Police killed over 1,300 people in 2024. Law enforcement agents are not well-equipped to effectively respond to people who are experiencing mental health crises. People experiencing serious mental illness are 10 times more likely to experience the use of force by police and 16 times more likely to be killed as compared to those who don’t have a serious mental illness. Police officers are rarely trained as mental health professionals and therefore do not possess the skills to engage with this vulnerable population appropriately. While attempts are being made to train officers in de-escalation tactics, the presence of armed officers may escalate the situation. All too often, these interactions end up with the person in handcuffs, or worse. For example, a recent study found that police are more likely to shoot and kill Black men who exhibit mental health conditions than white men with similar behaviors.

A solution to this problem is deploying trained mental health professionals instead of police officers to situations where a person is experiencing a mental health crisis. Eugene, Oregon, established an alternative response program in 1989. Medical and mental health professionals are dispatched to calls involving mental health, homelessness and substance use. The teams are trained in providing crisis intervention, counseling, and referrals to services. In 2019, responders only had to request police backup about 1% of the time. The program saves the city over $20 million annually and diverts thousands of people from the criminal legal system. Denver has a similar program where response teams are comprised of a mental health professional and a paramedic; they, too, de-escalate situations, provide basic services, and make referrals. The Denver program started in 2020, and in its first year the teams responded to 1,400 calls with no arrests, injuries or calls for police backup. As of July 2022, they have yet to call for police backup. The program saves taxpayers hundreds of dollars on each call because it diverts people away from the criminal legal system. Communities are stronger as a result because of the mental health support and the reduced rates of criminalization of mental health crisis.