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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFour Indianapolis police officers face fraud and official misconduct charges — and an 18-year veteran also has been charged with stalking — after investigators identified nearly 1,400 searches with license plate reader technology that appeared to have no law enforcement purpose.
Suspended Officer Jonathan Schultz used Flock technology to search for license plates tied to his ex-wife, as well as a woman he met at a Center Grove High School workout class and several other people, according to a probable cause affidavit unsealed Wednesday in Marion Superior Court.
The police department has access to 300 cameras in Marion County that use software to read license plates and then log their date time and location, according to the affidavit. Officers can access the cameras through computers or a mobile app.
The court document also said Schultz, who was charged with stalking, conducted 300 searches on the license plate of a 2020 Chevrolet belonging to a woman who managed a gym where the officer was a member. She told police she first met him in 2024 after her car was stolen from a Greenwood Mall parking lot, and the two later dated.
He also conducted 218 searches for a 2022 Porsche belonging to another woman he dated, the affidavit said.
Police Chief Tanya Terry has recommended that Schultz should be fired, according to a statement Wednesday from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Officers Michael Rogers, Cassandra Crawley, Matthew Binford and Abigail Cramer also face fraud and misconduct charges, the statement said.
Cramer has already resigned. The others have been suspended, and Terry also recommends that they should be fired.
The department’s statement Wednesday said internal audits this month and last identified possible misuse, and the department started administrative and criminal investigations.
Terry said in the statement that the officers went beyond a violation of department policy and crossed into criminal conduct that “shook the foundation of trust that our agency is built upon.”
Police say the misuse occurred before the department started a new policy last month. The department now requires all searches using the technology to be tied to a case or incident number as well as a National Incident-Based Reporting System offense code.
The department said it has also started stronger auditing to more quickly identify potential misuse.
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