Chief recommends firing IMPD officer who misused license plate readers

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) —  Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Tanya Terry is recommending that an officer be fired after using the city’s automated license plate reading cameras for personal reasons.

The department learned of the behavior on Aug. 6 and immediately stripped the officer of police powers. Investigators also seized the officer’s department-issued computer and equipment.

Terry told Indiana’s I-Team that the officer accessed the Flock camera system hundreds of times to monitor a small group of license plates that had no connection to any official investigation.

“This was intentional misconduct,” Terry said.

While the department has not identified the officer, Terry said the individual was trained on policies regarding automated license plate readers. The officer is suspended without pay.

Indianapolis uses hundreds of these cameras to help find missing people and capture suspects in criminal cases. However, privacy advocates warn the technology is an invasive tool that is easy to abuse.

“People across the country and political spectrum are fed up with Flock,” Will Owen, communications director for the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, said in a statement. “Pol...