5 Cops Caught Stalking With THIS!?

Police tape and lights at crime scene. — Photo: Shutterstock

Five Indianapolis police officers now face criminal charges for turning license plate data into a personal surveillance tool.

Story Snapshot

Prosecutors charged five Indianapolis officers after an internal audit flagged misuse of Flock searches.
Charges include official misconduct, fraud, and stalking tied to personal lookups, not police work.
One officer allegedly ran his ex-wife’s plate more than 950 times in six months.
The department suspended four officers, moved to fire them, and one officer resigned.

Criminal Charges Tied To Personal Lookups, Not Police Work

Marion County prosecutors filed charges against five Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers after an internal audit showed irregular use of automated license plate readers, known as Flock cameras. The filings name Michael Rogers, Jonathan Schultz, Cassandra Crawley, Matthew Binford, and Abigail Cramer.

Reported counts include official misconduct and fraud for multiple officers, with stalking added in Schultz’s case, reflecting searches linked to personal relationships, not active investigations. One warrant remains sealed, limiting some public details.

The Indianapolis Star reported a detailed breakdown: Binford faces one felony misconduct count and one misdemeanor fraud count; Cramer faces six felony misconduct counts and six misdemeanor fraud counts; Crawley faces eight felony misconduct counts and eight misdemeanor fraud counts; Rogers faces three felony misconduct counts and three misdemeanor fraud counts; Schultz faces more than two dozen charges, including stalking.

These are allegations at this stage. Courts will decide guilt. Prosecutors framed the conduct as criminal, not just policy violations.

How Audits Exposed Patterns That Look Like Stalking

Audit logs told a stark story. Prosecutors said one officer queried his ex-wife’s vehicle more than 950 times in a six-month window, a volume that signals intent beyond any police need. Reports say Schultz used Flock searches to track women he met and his ex-wife, leading to stalking charges, on top of misconduct and fraud.

Indianapolis police leaders said the department’s own audit first flagged the “irregular usage,” which triggered referrals to the prosecutor. That step matters: a paper trail exists when every query is logged.

The department responded fast once the pattern emerged. Four officers were suspended and recommended for termination, and one officer resigned as cases moved to charging decisions.

That response signals serious internal concern and tracks with the filing of criminal counts. The prosecutor said the investigation is ongoing, suggesting more audit work and potential cases could follow as logs are reviewed and compared to case files.

What This Case Says About License Plate Data And Power

Automatic license plate readers can help catch armed robbers and car thieves. The Indiana State Police have said the technology has put people in jail and that review systems exist to stop abuse. But when access controls are weak or audits run late, the same system can turn into an instant map of someone’s life.

National reporting has cataloged dozens of officers charged or disciplined for personal lookups of ex-partners and acquaintances, often exposed by audit trails and newsroom digging.

Policy gaps and late audits invite trouble. Think of a credit card with no monthly statement. The Brennan Center has warned for years that many agencies lack strong use policies and steady oversight for automatic plate readers.

Indianapolis now requires each search to list a case or incident number and a crime code, closing a key loophole that let casual lookups hide in plain sight. Good policy does not hunt for bad apples; it blocks the barrel from rotting by design.

BREAKING: Five Indianapolis police officers are being criminally charged for misusing Flock cameras.

One of the officers has already resigned, while the other four have been suspended and recommended for termination.https://t.co/Ax6Dy6SHnw

— FOX59 News (@FOX59) September 23, 2026

Accountability, Not Abolition, Is The Path

The test is simple: tools that fight crime stay, but power gets fenced in. This case shows both sides of the ledger. The audit logs worked.

The chief moved to suspend and fire. The prosecutor filed charges. That is what accountability looks like. The fix now is to turn process into habit: mandatory case linkage on every query, daily exception reports, independent audits, and real penalties for misuse that do not wait for headlines.

The lesson for other departments is blunt. If a system can be used to stalk an ex, it will be used that way unless guardrails stop it. Require a supervisor sign-off for sensitive lookups.

Alert administrators when the same user hits one plate repeatedly. Lock out any account that trips a threshold until a review clears it. Keep the tool, fence the power, and prove the rules bite. That balance protects both public safety and civil liberty.