Hackers Allegedly Leak Sensitive LAPD Personnel, Internal Affairs Records in Security Breach

A suspected cyber breach involving the Los Angeles city attorney’s office has reportedly exposed an unprecedented volume of sensitive LAPD records, raising serious concerns about police data security.

By Libor Jany and Richard Winton

Source Los Angeles Times

April 8, 2026

2 min read

What to know

Hackers are believed to have obtained a massive cache of sensitive Los Angeles Police Department records during a cyber breach involving the L.A. city attorney’s office, including police officer personnel files and Internal Affairs investigation materials.
Some of the records have begun circulating on social media, though city and LAPD officials have not publicly acknowledged the breach or confirmed the authenticity of the released files.
Posts about the breach claim the data haul includes 7.7 terabytes and more than 337,000 files, containing unredacted court discovery materials such as witness names, medical information, and investigative records typically protected under state law.

LAPD records leaked in suspected hack — From police officer personnel files to Internal Affairs investigations, hackers are believed to have accessed thousands of protected LAPD documents now appearing online.

LOS ANGELES—A trove of sensitive LAPD records, including officer personnel files and documents from Internal Affairs investigations, are among the materials believed to have been seized by hackers in a breach last month involving the L.A. city attorney’s office.

Some of the records have started surfacing on social media platforms like X. Among the first to post a file from the suspected hack was the account @WhosTheCop, which regularly posts about information related to police accountability.

The account’s administrator said a security researcher first disclosed the breach in a post that had been taken down by Tuesday afternoon.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the hackers requested a ransom not to release the information and whether the city paid one.

There has been no public acknowledgment of the hack from city or LAPD officials. A department spokesperson did not immediately provide a response to a request for comment.

Under state law, most police officer records are considered private. If authentic, the disclosure represents a stunning breach of police data. Only rarely do Internal Affairs documents surface in civil lawsuits and criminal cases, and even then they are often heavily redacted.

In all, according to posts about the data breach, there were 7.7 terabytes of information available for download and more than 337,000 files. The trove included sensitive records turned over as part of discovery in court cases, such as witness names, health information, unredacted criminal complaints and investigative files.

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