A self-professed “puppygirl polycule” hacker group has taken credit for leaking thousands of files intended for police precincts in the US. More than 8,500 files, including names, passwords, email addresses, and phone numbers, were reportedly lifted from Texas-based policy company Lexipol LLC. The business, founded by former police officers in 2003, creates policy management manuals and training bulletins, and provides consulting services for approximately 8,500 law enforcement agencies across the US, including police first responders and fire departments.
The company has been challenged a number of times in court, accused of racial profiling and including anti-immigrant rhetoric in the manuals. The hacker group, which shared the files on leaking site Distributed Denial of Secrets, said the company “retains copyright over all manuals it creates, despite the public nature of its work”.
Police policy leak exposes sensitive data
A spokesperson for the hackers added: “There is little transparency on how decisions are made to draft their policies, which have an oversized influence on policing in the United States.” While some departments that use Lexipol policy manuals publish them online, others keep them hidden from public view. Speaking to media, the hacker group said it targeted Lexipol because it believes there aren’t “enough hacks against the police.”
Lexipol was criticized by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2017. The ACLU of Northern California handed a letter to the private company demanding that it cease “illegal and unclear” directives that threaten marginalized communities.
“When local police get involved in the business of immigration enforcement, that undermines community trust and compromises public safety,” a spokeswoman said at the time. “These policies should be shelved immediately.”
