IMPD Officer Suspended, Recommended for Firing Over Hundreds of Unauthorized Plate Searches

Event: August 6, 2025 · First reported: September 19, 2026 · 1 source

An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer has been suspended and recommended for termination after an August internal audit flagged what investigators determined were hundreds of unauthorized automated license plate reader searches. Reports say the officer came forward on August 6, acknowledging he had run hundreds of searches on a small number of plates before the full administrative review began; his system access was revoked and he was moved to administrative duty. Chief Tanya Terry described the conduct as a violation of public trust and referred the firing recommendation to the Merit Board. No criminal charges have been announced, and both the criminal and administrative reviews remain open.

Why this matters

The case is at least the third recent Indiana incident involving alleged misuse of plate-reader data by officers, and it is surfacing in a state with no statutory rules on ALPR audits, retention, or disclosure — leaving oversight to individual departments.

Key facts

IMPD Chief Tanya Terry suspended the officer and recommended termination to the Merit Board; criminal and administrative reviews are ongoing and no charges have been announced.
Since August, IMPD has required every plate search to be tied to a case or incident number and crime code, with single sign-on tracking and more frequent audits; a broader policy, General Order 9.9, would separate ALPR rules from general camera policy and had not been voted on by the General Orders Board as of Tuesday.
Former IMPD officer Nicholas Cauley pleaded guilty in July to misdemeanor official misconduct over an unauthorized plate lookup, receiving probation and surrendering his certification.
Former Jackson County Sheriff's Deputy Skylar Thompson was arrested in late August and charged with Level 6 felony official misconduct for allegedly running 2,055 unauthorized Flock searches on his then-girlfriend's plate; the allegations have not been proven in court.
IMPD had 301 Flock Safety cameras as of August; the group Eyes Off Indiana estimated 3,604 ALPR cameras statewide, and Rep. Jim Pressel said he is drafting ALPR audit and oversight legislation for the 2027 General Assembly session.

Sources

This summary was written from the published reporting below and links to it; BlockFlockNow does not reproduce article text.

IMPD Officer Suspended, Faces Firing After Hundreds of Illicit Plate Searches (Hoodline, September 19, 2026)

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About this record

BlockFlockNow documents reported incidents involving Flock Safety cameras and automated license plate readers: council votes, contract decisions, misuse by authorized users, lawsuits, audits, and community response. Every record is reviewed by a person before publication. New to the topic? Start with What is Flock?, find meetings near you, or learn how to request your town's camera records.

Updated September 21, 2026. Corrections: blockflock@bytebunny.io. See all documented incidents or search the full article archive.