Data Breach Targets LAPD Officers' Personal Information

LOS ANGELES, CA — Thousands of Los Angeles Police Department officers and officer applicants have been victimized in a massive data breach that targeted the agency's personnel department, city officials confirmed Monday.

About 2,500 officers and 17,500 would-be officers were affected. Their personal information was stolen, and they were notified over the weekend and advised to monitor their credit, according to NBC4. Officials did not identify a suspect nor motive for targeting the officers. An investigation is underway into the data breach. At a time when the department is mourning theshooting death of a young officer, their ranks are forced to grapple with the vulnerability caused by the breach.

Mayor Eric Garcetti's office issued a statement Monday morning saying that the breach was discovered on Thursday and "involved limited information about city of Los Angeles job applicants in a database that is no longer used by the Personnel Department."

The mayor's office statement saud the city "take(s) the protection of personal data very seriously" and the city's Information Technology Agency "has added additional layers of security to guard against future events of this kind."

Channel 4 reported that the compromised data included the officers' names, dates of birth, part of their employee serial number and the email address and password they set up when applying for the job.

The LAPD issued a statement saying the department "is working with our city partners to better understand the extent and impact of the data breach. We are also taking steps to ensure the department's data is protected from any further intrusions. The employees and individuals who may be have been affected by this incident have been notified and we will continue to update them as we progress through this investigation."

The LAPD told the affected personnel they should monitor their personal financial accounts, get copies of their credit reports and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

Related: City Mourns LAPD Officer Killed After Confronting A Tagger

City News and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.