FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Indianapolis, IN — August 13, 2026 — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced today that an officer used the department’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) system for personal reasons. According to IMPD, the officer has been suspended with a recommendation for termination while administrative and criminal investigations continue.

When IMPD learned of the misuse, it acted, and it made a public statement. Nothing in Indiana law required either. No statewide law governs ALPR systems in Indiana: no statute limits how the data may be used, requires an audit trail for searches, sets penalties specific to misuse, or obligates a department to disclose misuse when it finds it. Whatever safeguards apply here are internal department policy — policy the public has never seen, in Indianapolis or nearly anywhere else in the state.

“Right now, the only thing protecting your location history is a department’s promise,” said Walker Lasbury, President of Eyes Off Indiana. “Nothing in Indiana law required IMPD to investigate this, act on it, or say a word about it publicly. The next department might handle it differently — and Hoosiers would never know. A choice isn’t a protection. Protections this basic belong in state law.”

This kind of misuse is surfacing in departments across the country. A Kansas police chief resigned after using license plate cameras to track his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend more than 200 times. Last month, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested five former Albany, Georgia officers for allegedly running personal searches through their city’s camera network. It was only a matter of time before a case like this reached Indiana — and whether Hoosiers hear about the next one depends entirely on whether that department, too, decides to say so.

What we’re asking the General Assembly to pass in 2027

Whether these cameras go up at all is a decision that belongs to each Indiana community — including the choice to reject them entirely. But wherever they operate, Hoosiers deserve the same minimum protections. Eyes Off Indiana calls on lawmakers to set a statewide floor that includes, at a minimum, four things:

  • A 7-day retention limit: Routine scans that don’t match a law-enforcement alert are permanently deleted within 7 days, with longer retention only for warrants and active investigations.
  • A ban on selling the data: Hoosiers’ plate data may not be sold, licensed, traded, or transferred to data brokers or any other private third party.
  • Transparency and audit requirements: Every search logged with who ran it, when, and why; regular audits of system use; and a public transparency portal showing how each agency’s cameras are used.
  • Criminal penalties for misuse: Personal use of ALPR data made a violation of law, not just department policy — with criminal liability for knowing violations and a right for victims to sue. No Indiana statute today speaks directly to misuse of these systems. That should change.

“The question isn’t whether misuse will happen — the record shows it does, in departments of every size, in every part of the country,” Lasbury said. “The question is whether Indiana will have rules in place when it does. Right now we don’t. The 2027 session is the time to fix that.”

Hoosiers who want statewide ALPR safeguards can sign the petition at eyesoffindiana.org/petition and learn more at eyesoffindiana.org.

About Eyes Off Indiana

Eyes Off Indiana, Inc. is a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to protecting privacy and advancing strict limits on government surveillance technology. The organization advocates for clear, enforceable policies governing the collection, retention, and sharing of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) data across Indiana.

Media Contact

Walker Lasbury, President
walker@eyesoffindiana.org
(317) 483-1932