Eyes Off Indiana

Indiana · Updated September 2026

Every documented case of Indiana police misusing license plate cameras

Indiana's license plate reader cameras photograph every car that passes and store where it was, and when. Police can search that history for any reason they type into a box. These are the 8 cases where Hoosiers found out an officer had searched someone who was not under investigation at all.

8
Documented cases in Indiana
11,286
Searches of people who were not under investigation
4 of 8
Caught by the police department itself
Criminal charges filed Marion County · September 2026

IMPD officer charged with stalking after tracking women he met at the gym

1,396 searches with no law enforcement purpose, across eleven people — most of them strangers

Prosecutors allege that IMPD officer Jonathan Schultz ran 1,396 Flock searches with no legitimate law enforcement purpose, tracking about a dozen plates that mostly belonged to women he did not know. Court documents describe a woman from his exercise class whom he messaged from a fake Facebook account and, nine days after she blocked him, began searching; a woman at a gym whose sign-in times matched his own on nine occasions and who says he posed as an FBI agent; and a woman he met while investigating her stolen car, whose plate he searched some 300 times before telling her he had watched her. He also searched his ex-wife 22 times around their February 2026 divorce filing.

What happened to the officer

On September 23, 2026, the Marion County Prosecutor charged Schultz with 12 counts of official misconduct, 12 counts of fraud, and two counts of stalking — the only one of the five IMPD officers charged that day to face a stalking count, because prosecutors say he used the searches to engineer in-person encounters. Chief Tanya Terry suspended him and recommended termination. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.

This is what a location-tracking database looks like in the hands of one person who wants to find a stranger again. The women involved were not under investigation; several had simply declined his attention. One of them caught him only by photographing his own license plate in a parking lot, and IMPD began auditing only after outside reporters showed it what it had missed.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
Searches ran 2023 – August 2026
How it came to light: IMPD's audit of Flock use, begun after Washington Post reporting exposed a colleague, and a woman who photographed his plate and reported him
Sources (4)
  1. 4 suspended, 1 former IMPD officer charged after license plate reader audit — WISH-TV, September 23, 2026
  2. Court docs: IMPD officer tracked women through Flock, arranged run-ins — The Indianapolis Star (via Yahoo News), September 23, 2026
  3. ‘Just the beginning’: 5 IMPD officers charged with misuse of Flock cameras — FOX59, September 23, 2026
  4. Police Officer Accused of Using Flock Cameras To Secretly Track Women — Newsweek, September 24, 2026
Criminal charges filed Marion County · September 2026

IMPD officer ran her ex-boyfriend's cars 1,270 times, logging each search as “invest”

1,270 searches of nine plates, each one logged as “invest”

Court records allege that IMPD officer Cassandra Crawley made 1,270 unauthorized Flock searches over nineteen months, repeatedly looking up nine plates. Most were tied to her ex-boyfriend, an IMPD lieutenant: four of his personal vehicles, one police vehicle searched more than 130 times, and another searched 294 times. She also searched her own police vehicle 51 times and two other officers' cars. The justification entered for every search was the single word “invest.”

What happened to the officer

On September 23, 2026, the Marion County Prosecutor charged Crawley with eight counts of official misconduct and eight counts of fraud. Chief Tanya Terry suspended her and recommended termination to the Merit Board. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.

“Invest” was accepted 1,270 times. The reason field is the only thing that distinguishes police work from personal surveillance, and no Indiana law requires that it be a real case number, that a supervisor approve it, or that anyone ever read it. IMPD now requires a case number for every search — a rule it wrote in August 2026, and one that no other department is obliged to copy.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
Searches ran December 22, 2024 – July 14, 2026
How it came to light: An IMPD audit begun August 12, 2026, after Washington Post reporting exposed a colleague
Sources (3)
  1. Court docs: IMPD officer tracked 9 plates, 1.3k searches with Flock — The Indianapolis Star (via Yahoo News), September 23, 2026
  2. 4 suspended, 1 former IMPD officer charged after license plate reader audit — WISH-TV, September 23, 2026
  3. Suspended IMPD officers facing felony charges for alleged Flock camera misuse — 21Alive (Fort Wayne), September 23, 2026
Criminal charges filed Marion County · September 2026

IMPD officer tracked his ex-wife through a superior's laptop during their separation

1,616 searches of two plates, including his ex-wife’s, under another officer’s login

According to the probable cause affidavit, IMPD officer Matthew Binford made 1,616 Flock searches for two license plates, one of them his ex-wife's, over the year in which the two were separating. He did not use his own account: investigators say he ran the searches from a superior officer's laptop under that officer's credentials. Detectives who spoke with the ex-wife learned that Binford had shown an “unusual knowledge of her whereabouts” during the separation. He admitted to the searches when confronted.

What happened to the officer

On September 23, 2026, the Marion County Prosecutor charged Binford with one count of official misconduct and one count of fraud. Chief Tanya Terry suspended him and recommended termination. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.

An audit log is only as good as the name attached to it. For a year, the record showed a supervisor running these searches, not the officer who actually did. IMPD has since moved to single sign-on so credentials cannot be shared, but nothing in Indiana law requires that of any other department.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
Searches ran April 2024 – April 2025
How it came to light: IMPD's audit of Flock use, begun after Washington Post reporting exposed a colleague; his ex-wife told detectives he had shown “unusual knowledge of her whereabouts”
Sources (3)
  1. 4 suspended, 1 former IMPD officer charged after license plate reader audit — WISH-TV, September 23, 2026
  2. 4 suspended, 1 former IMPD officer charged after license plate reader audit — WRTV Indianapolis, September 23, 2026
  3. 5 IMPD officers charged over Flock searches — Axios Indianapolis, September 23, 2026
Criminal charges filed Marion County · September 2026

IMPD officer searched her wife's ex-wife and the woman's family hundreds of times

477 searches of her wife’s ex-wife, the woman’s mother, her new partner, and his family

Court documents allege that IMPD officer Abigail Cramer used Flock and the BMV database to look up her wife's ex-wife 271 times over a year, and then the people around her: the woman's mother 48 times, her current partner 64 times, a vehicle registered to his business 26 times, and his brother and the brother's ex-wife another 43 times. Many of the searches were run off duty. The woman told investigators that “odd things” had been happening — two pieces of anonymous hate mail, her driver's license photo posted online, and unsolicited visits from church missionaries.

What happened to the officer

Cramer resigned from IMPD during the preliminary investigation. On September 23, 2026, the Marion County Prosecutor charged her with six counts of official misconduct and six counts of fraud, one pair for each plate she searched. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.

None of the six people searched lives in Indianapolis or had any connection to an IMPD case. The camera network does not stop at a county line, and neither does an officer's reach into it. This case came to light only because the target noticed she was being harassed and went to investigators herself.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
Searches ran July 2025 – July 2026
How it came to light: The woman herself, who contacted investigators on August 26, 2026 after receiving anonymous hate mail and finding her driver's license photo posted online
Sources (3)
  1. Former IMPD officer charged for Flock searches of wife's ex, associates — The Indianapolis Star (via Yahoo News), September 23, 2026
  2. Suspended IMPD officers facing felony charges for alleged Flock camera misuse — 21Alive (Fort Wayne), September 23, 2026
  3. 4 suspended, 1 former IMPD officer charged after license plate reader audit — WISH-TV, September 23, 2026
Criminal charges filed Jackson County · August 2026

Jackson County deputy charged after running one plate 2,055 times

2,055 searches of one license plate, every one logged as “City Planning/Traffic Analysis”

Prosecutors allege that former Jackson County deputy Skylar Thompson searched his then-girlfriend's license plate 2,055 times over roughly seven months. On each search he entered “City Planning/Traffic Analysis” as his justification — an assignment the sheriff's office says he never had. A routine internal audit flagged the pattern, and the office referred the matter to the Indiana State Police. Court documents say Thompson resigned the day he was confronted, then drove to his girlfriend's home and admitted to her what he had done.

What happened to the officer

An arrest warrant was issued August 31, 2026 on charges of official misconduct, a low-level felony, and fraud, a misdemeanor. Jackson County Prosecutor Lynsey Fleetwood cited a “no-tolerance policy for cases where public trust is violated.” Thompson, 31, turned himself in that day. He is no longer employed by the sheriff's office. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.

The stated reason is the only thing separating a lawful search from an unlawful one, and nothing in the system checks whether it is true. Here the same justification was accepted 2,055 consecutive times — roughly ten a day, for seven months, against a woman he was dating.

Jackson County Sheriff's Office
Searches ran December 31, 2025 – August 2, 2026
How it came to light: A routine internal audit by the sheriff's office itself
Sources (6)
  1. Ex-deputy accused of searching for same license plate 2,055 times on Flock — WRTV Indianapolis, August 31, 2026
  2. Ex-deputy accused of searching for same license plate 2,055 times on Flock — WISH-TV, August 31, 2026
  3. Jackson County deputy allegedly used Flock cameras to search same license plate 2,055 times — FOX59, August 31, 2026
  4. Ex-Jackson County Sheriff's deputy charged for alleged misuse of FLOCK cameras — The Republic (Columbus, Ind.), August 31, 2026
  5. Indiana deputy arrested for using Flock to search for the same plate over 2,000 times — WANE 15 (Fort Wayne), September 1, 2026
  6. Ex-Indiana deputy charged with felony for allegedly using Flock cameras to stalk girlfriend — Fox News, September 1, 2026
Disciplined Porter County · August 2026

Porter County sheriff's lieutenant demoted for running a citizen's plate

A Porter County Sheriff's lieutenant ran a citizen's plate through Flock “for a reason that was not consistent with PCSO policy,” according to Sheriff Jeff Balon. It surfaced only because the citizen found out and complained, which prompted an internal affairs investigation that confirmed the unauthorized searches. The Times of Northwest Indiana reported a man's claim that the searches were tied to an affair.

What happened to the officer

The lieutenant was demoted, suspended without pay, permanently barred from Flock access, and ordered into ethics training. The sheriff's office has since required a case number and a stated reason for every Flock search.

Nothing in the system surfaced this. It surfaced because one member of the public happened to find out and had the persistence to file a complaint. Almost no Hoosier has any way to learn their plate was searched, which means the only path to accountability that worked here is closed to nearly everyone.

Porter County Sheriff's Office
Timing not specified in local reporting
How it came to light: A complaint from the citizen whose plate was searched
Sources (2)
  1. Porter County cop disciplined over misuse of Flock license plate search (paywalled) — The Times of Northwest Indiana, August 28, 2026
  2. Porter County Sheriff's Police officer disciplined for departmental Flock LPR policy violation — WIMS Radio, publishing the Porter County Sheriff's Office statement, August 28, 2026
Criminal charges filed Marion County · August 2026

IMPD officer ran his wife's plate and two others 4,400 times, then was charged

4,409 searches of his wife, her friend, and a firefighter he believed she was seeing

A Washington Post analysis of public audit records found that an IMPD East District officer had searched a small set of plates unconnected to any investigation about 3,759 times over ten months. IMPD had not noticed. Post reporters brought it to the department on August 6, 2026, and the officer — Michael Rogers — went to his supervisor the next day. Court documents later put the total at roughly 4,409 searches over twenty months: about 1,480 of his wife's plate, 125 of her friend's, and 2,800 of a firefighter he believed she was seeing. The reasons he logged included “hit and run investigation,” “stolen vehicle,” and “missing person.”

What happened to the officer

IMPD suspended Rogers without pay on August 13, 2026, and Chief Tanya Terry recommended termination. The department's follow-up audit, its first, turned up four more officers. On September 23, 2026, the Marion County Prosecutor charged Rogers with three counts of official misconduct and three counts of fraud alongside them. The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.

Chief Terry acknowledged that IMPD “had no regular practice of auditing officers' searches.” Twelve improper lookups a day for months, inside Indiana's largest police department — and it took outside journalists to notice. Once IMPD finally looked, it found four more officers in six weeks. Nothing in Indiana law required IMPD to look, and nothing requires any other department to start.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department
Searches ran December 1, 2024 – August 15, 2026
How it came to light: Washington Post reporters, who brought it to IMPD on August 6, 2026; Rogers went to his supervisor the next day
Sources (5)
  1. Court docs: IMPD officer made 4k Flock searches for wife, friend, firefighter — The Indianapolis Star (via Yahoo News), September 23, 2026
  2. Five Indianapolis officers charged following The Post's reporting on Flock misuse — The Washington Post, September 23, 2026
  3. Chief recommends firing IMPD officer who misused license plate readers — WISH-TV I-Team, August 13, 2026
  4. Police departments weren't looking for officers abusing Flock. We did it for them. — The Washington Post (via The Spokesman-Review), August 19, 2026
  5. Chief recommends firing IMPD officer who misused license plate readers — WRTV Indianapolis, August 13, 2026
No discipline Wabash County · August 2026

A town council critic's plate was searched 63 times by police and deputies

63 searches of one man’s car in a year, by two different agencies

Bob Sklar is a North Manchester resident who regularly criticizes the town council and records police. After noticing a Flock camera, he sought the search records for his own plate and found 63 searches logged by North Manchester police and the Wabash County Sheriff's Office over roughly a year. The logged justifications included his own last name, “PATROL,” and “Locate” — the last used repeatedly by North Manchester Officer Griffen Miller.

What happened to the officer

Confronted on camera, Miller said “you're going to have to talk to somebody else about that.” The Wabash County Sheriff's Office said all searches were “for a legitimate law enforcement purpose — to ensure officer safety during traffic stops.” No discipline has been reported, and Sklar has never been charged with a crime.

This is the case Indiana's missing rules make impossible to resolve. Whether or not you accept the county's explanation, there is no mechanism in Indiana to test it: no statute requires an agency to justify a search after the fact, to have a supervisor approve one in advance, or to explain why a man who has never been charged with anything was looked up 63 times in a year.

North Manchester Police Department and Wabash County Sheriff's Office
Searches ran December 2024 – December 2025
How it came to light: Sklar himself, who requested the search records for his own plate
Sources (1)
  1. Flock alters system tracking transparency while shadow of alleged misuse cases expands — InvestigateTV (Gray Media), August 10, 2026

What these cases have in common

8 cases across 5 agencies. They repeat themselves in the same four ways.

Nobody checks the reason

To pull up your location history, an officer types a reason into a box. Nothing verifies it. A Jackson County deputy is alleged to have typed the same one 2,055 times, for work he was never assigned. An IMPD officer typed “invest” 1,270 times.

Departments are not the ones noticing

4 of these 8 cases were caught by a department audit — and IMPD ran its first one only after Washington Post reporters showed it an officer it had missed. The rest came from reporters, from the people being searched noticing and complaining, and from a man who requested the records on his own car.

The people searched did nothing wrong

A wife. An ex-wife. An ex-boyfriend. A girlfriend. Women an officer met at the gym. A man whose offense was speaking at town council meetings. None of them was under investigation. All of them were tracked anyway.

The consequences are a coin flip

Similar conduct brought felony charges in Jackson and Marion counties, a demotion in Porter County, and nothing at all in Wabash County. Each of those was a local judgment call, made under no state law.

Know about a case we are missing?

We would rather be corrected than be wrong. If you know of an Indiana case that is not listed here — or if something above is inaccurate or out of date — email Walker directly.

walker@eyesoffindiana.org

What helps most:

  • A link to a news story, court filing, police department statement, or public record.
  • The agency and county, and roughly when it happened.
  • Any documents you already have — an affidavit, an internal affairs summary, a records request response.

Think your own plate was searched? Write anyway. Start by looking it up on HaveIBeenFlocked.com — that is how the North Manchester case came to light — and we will help you work out which records to request from which department.

Indiana has no law about any of this

Every consequence on this page happened because a particular department or prosecutor decided to act. Nothing required them to, and nothing requires the next one. As of September 2026, no Indiana law:

  • limits how long your location data is kept
  • restricts what police may search that data for
  • requires anyone to review search records for misuse
  • creates a penalty for misusing the system
  • lets you find out whether your own plate was searched
  • makes a department tell the public when it finds misuse
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Common questions

No — it is every case anyone has found and published. No Indiana law requires a police department to check its own search records, and 4 of these 8 cases were uncovered by someone outside the department. The number here measures how often somebody looked, not how often it happened.

Sometimes. No Indiana law gives you that right, but where departments publish their search records you can look your plate up on HaveIBeenFlocked.com. You can also file an Indiana public records request with the department directly. That is how a North Manchester man discovered his plate had been searched 63 times. Email us and we will help you word the request.

Three things have to be true: an Indiana officer ran the searches, the person searched was not under investigation, and it is documented in a named public source we can link to — a news story, a court filing, or an official department statement. Nothing here rests on a rumor or on our own guess about someone's motive. We name an officer only where local reporting has named him and charges or confirmed discipline exist. Some of these cases are allegations that have not been decided in court, and each one says so.

We are for communities getting to decide. A town that wants no cameras should be able to have none. A town that keeps them should have real rules about how long data is kept, who can search it, and what happens when someone misuses it. Indiana currently guarantees neither.

Yes — please cite Eyes Off Indiana and link back. Every case here, with all the source links, is also available as a spreadsheet or JSON. If you are working on a story, email walker@eyesoffindiana.org and we will walk you through the underlying records.

Want the bigger picture? See every camera documented in Indiana on a map, the count in your county, or our data on how fast the network is growing. Last reviewed September 24, 2026.