Indianapolis: five current and former police officers were charged on 23 September 2026 with fraud and official misconduct, one also with stalking, after audits found thousands of Flock automated license-plate-reader searches with no law-enforcement purpose, including one officer's tracking of 11 people (seven women and four men) and another's 1,616 searches that included his ex-wife's plate (WISH-TV, WNDU, WFYI/WVXU, Gizmodo)

WISH-TV (23 September 2026) reported that four suspended IMPD officers and one former officer faced charges of fraud and official misconduct after an investigation into misuse of license plate readers, with one officer also charged with stalking; internal audits in August and September 2026 identified the misuse, Chief Tanya Terry placed the officers on desk duty and revoked their ALPR access, one resigned, and as more facts came to light she suspended the remaining four and recommended their dismissal. WISH-TV reported that prosecutors identified 1,396 ALPR searches by one 18-year veteran that appeared to have no legitimate law-enforcement purpose and, citing the probable cause affidavit, that he began stalking a woman he met at a workout class in September 2023, searched her plate in Flock nine days later, created a Facebook account under a fake name to message her, and the woman told police she believed he had an obsession with her; he also used Flock to stalk his ex-wife and a woman he met at her place of employment in Greenwood, telling her he was an FBI agent conducting surveillance, and in total conducted unauthorised surveillance of 11 individuals, seven women and four men, on and off duty. A four-year veteran searched two plates, one his ex-wife's, between April 2024 and April 2025, making 1,616 searches with another officer's credentials. A five-year veteran resigned and was charged with six counts each of misconduct and fraud; a 16-year veteran and a seven-year veteran were charged with three and eight counts each. The chief said the actions 'crossed into criminal conduct'; the mayor called the misuse 'absolutely unacceptable'; the police union said it would not defend the officers. WNDU (23 September) reported the same charges and that the misuse predated the department's new ALPR policy. WFYI, carried by WVXU (24 September), reported that the department discovered the misuse after one officer self-reported, that an audit then revealed thousands of impermissible searches, that the prosecutor announced the charges at a news conference on 23 September and credited reporting by The Washington Post, that each count corresponds to one license plate however many times it was searched, and that the chief said the department leases about 301 Flock cameras, can access thousands more through a shared network and will not reduce them. Gizmodo (24 September) summarised the case. WISH-TV's I-Team had reported on 13 August 2026 that the chief recommended firing an officer who had accessed the Flock system hundreds of times to monitor a small group of plates unconnected to any investigation, which the department learned of on 6 August, and that an audit of other officers was under way.

At least 12 people, including two officers' ex-wives and a woman an officer met at a workout class, had their vehicle movements searched in the police license-plate-reader system without a law-enforcement purpose, in one case as part of stalking that included contact under a false identity; the surveillance is documented in the charging affidavit as reported by WISH-TV and the prosecutor's announcement. No physical harm is reported.

Charges filed 23 September 2026 by the Marion County Prosecutor's Office: multiple counts of fraud and official misconduct against five current and former IMPD officers, and two counts of stalking against one of them (26 counts in his case per WFYI); four officers suspended with termination recommended and one resigned; the department's internal audit and criminal investigation continue and the prosecutor said IMPD had made his office aware of additional cases and that 'today is just the beginning' (WFYI/WVXU). Policy changes: signed ALPR policy, case or incident number and offence code for every search, single login, increased audits, data shared only with Indiana agencies. IMPD said the misuse predated its new ALPR policy (WISH-TV, WNDU).