Indianapolis Officers Face Charges for Misusing License Plate Readers

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Indianapolis Officers Face Charges for Misusing License Plate Readers

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INDIANAPOLIS – Five Indianapolis police officers have been criminally charged in connection with misusing the city’s Flock license-plate-reader camera system. The charges, announced Wednesday by Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, include fraud and official misconduct. One officer also faces stalking charges.

The officers charged are Michael Rogers, Jonathan Schultz, Cassandra Crawley, Matthew Binford, and Abigail Cramer. Cramer has resigned, while the other four officers have been suspended and recommended for termination by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD).

The investigation into the misuse of the automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology began after an internal audit by IMPD and outreach from a news organization in August, which highlighted thousands of suspicious searches. This led to the initial suspension of one officer and a broader audit of the city’s 301-camera Flock system.

Specific allegations include Officer Jonathan Schultz, an 18-year veteran, using Flock to track his ex-wife and other women, conducting over 1,300 searches of 11 different women’s license plates. Officer Michael Rogers is accused of searching plates belonging to his wife and close acquaintances 3,759 times over a 10-month period. Another officer, Matthew Binford, allegedly searched his ex-wife’s plate over 1,000 times between April 2024 and April 2025.

These incidents occurred before IMPD implemented a new ALPR policy in August, which now requires all searches to be linked to a case or incident number and an offense code. Flock Safety, the company that provides the cameras, has also announced upcoming mandatory safeguards, including an audit tool to flag abnormal search behavior. Nationwide, at least 100 police department employees have been accused or charged with misusing license-plate readers for unauthorized purposes.

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