Cop accused of using Flock cameras to track ex-wife more than 1,000 times

BS BULLETIN:

Five current or former Indianapolis police officers have been charged over alleged misuse of the department’s Flock license-plate surveillance system.
One officer allegedly searched for a plate connected to his ex-wife more than 1,000 times; another allegedly used the system to track women he wanted to encounter.
Four officers have been suspended and recommended for termination, while a fifth resigned during the investigation.

The police surveillance cameras were supposed to track criminals. Apparently somebody forgot to specify that your ex-wife doesn’t count.

Five current or former Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers are facing criminal charges after investigators say they used the city’s Flock license-plate camera network for decidedly personal purposes.

The allegations include officers searching for ex-partners, relatives and women they were interested in — with thousands of allegedly improper searches uncovered.

But Officer Matthew Binford’s case is particularly remarkable.

According to court records reported by the Indianapolis Star, Binford admitted to detectives and his ex-wife that he had misused Flock technology more than 1,000 times.

Investigators say Binford searched for a license plate connected to his ex-wife between September 2024 and April 2025. He also allegedly searched for a plate belonging to himself nearly 150 times.

Binford faces one count each of official misconduct and fraud.

And he’s hardly alone.

Officer Jonathan Schultz, an 18-year IMPD veteran, is accused of using the department’s network of roughly 300 Flock cameras to locate women and then creating opportunities to encounter them.

Schultz faces multiple charges, including stalking.

One woman told investigators Schultz appeared to have a “weird obsession” with her after they met at a workout class.

According to court records, Schultz allegedly searched her license plate using Flock.

Another woman told investigators Schultz began texting her after meeting her at work and later appeared at the gym around the same time she exercised.

Then there’s yet another woman.

Investigators say Schultz searched her plate more than 170 times over three months and eventually left a note on her vehicle.

The other officers charged are Michael Rogers, Cassandra Crawley and Abigail Cramer.

Prosecutors allege the officers conducted searches unrelated to legitimate law-enforcement work.

Flock cameras automatically photograph license plates and vehicle characteristics, creating a searchable database police departments can use to locate vehicles.

IMPD leases more than 300 cameras locally and can access thousands more through a broader shared network.

That makes them an extraordinarily useful police tool.

It also makes what investigators allege happened here rather difficult to dismiss as somebody accidentally clicking the wrong button.

“Automated License plate reader technology is a powerful law enforcement tool, and with that power comes the responsibility to use it lawfully and appropriately,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said.

Mears called the alleged conduct a “gross misuse” that undermines public trust in law enforcement.

IMPD Chief Tanya Terry was similarly blunt, saying the allegations went far beyond a clerical mistake or ordinary policy violation.

Four of the officers have been suspended and Terry has recommended their termination.

Cramer resigned during the investigation.

The department has also tightened access to the surveillance system.

Officers now must provide a specific case or incident number along with a crime classification before conducting a search, and IMPD has restricted credential sharing and begun auditing for additional misuse.

And there could be more coming.

Mears said police are investigating additional cases and warned that the charges announced this week may be “just the beginning.”

The Indianapolis cases arrive amid broader scrutiny of Flock cameras.

As The Daily BS reported this week, a Florida woman recently told Congress that a Flock camera helped lead authorities to wrongly arrest her for a fatal crash she had nothing to do with. She spent 13 days behind bars before prosecutors ultimately declined to prosecute her.

Now Indianapolis has provided a very different warning about the technology.

Sometimes the camera works exactly as designed. It’s the person searching it you have to worry about.