On April 17, 2023, LDF submitted comments to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in response to Section 3 of Exec. Order 14074. In the letter, LDF proposes several “best practices” that law enforcement agencies should take to protect against hiring and retaining officers who promote unlawful violence, white supremacy, or other bias. LDF calls on OPM to implement and promote hiring practices at federal law enforcement agencies that appropriately screen officers for bias through rigorous background checks and psychological evaluations. LDF calls on OPM to ensure that officers who have been de-certified in one jurisdiction or agency for reasons that bear on their fitness to serve cannot gain employment as an officer in another jurisdiction. We also call on OPM to ensure that accountability systems are implemented to appropriately discipline officers who have committed misconduct or demonstrated a lack of fitness to serve.
Read the full letter here.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
