Sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel a federal program targeting drug trafficking in Wisconsin and Minnesota was hacked on Nov. 21.
The hack targeted the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, which is a collection of law enforcement agencies meant to reduce drug threats in regions of the country.
While the reason is unclear, the hack prevented Milwaukee Police Department officers from accessing records in the federal program’s database, a law enforcement source told the Journal Sentinel.
The Milwaukee Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies, alongside federal and state agencies, are part of the program’s North Central region.
Officials with the North Central High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
There was no impact or hack to a city-operated database, said Heather Hough, the Milwaukee Police Department’s Chief of Staff. She declined to comment further and referred questions to the federal program.
Federal officials from the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies involved with the program either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.
Milwaukee County was designated as part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas in 1998, according to the program’s website. In 2002, that broadened to include Waukesha, Racine and Kenosha counties, and by 2009 Dane County was added.
Last year, the program arrested over 6,000 people, according to its website.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.
Mary Spicuzza is an investigative reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at mary.spicuzza@jrn.com.
Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed reporting to this story.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Federal program targeting drug trafficking in Milwaukee hacked, sources say
Reporting by David Clarey and Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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