2nd IMPD officer faces firing over misuse of license plate readers

INDIANAPOLIS — A second Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer has been suspended with a recommendation for termination to the Merit Board over misuse of automated license plate reader technology, IMPD said Friday.

This is the second time in two months an IMPD officer has received a termination recommendation over misuse of license plate readers. The first officer was caught using Flock cameras for personal reasons and was immediately stripped of police powers after what IMPD Chief Tanya Terry called “intentional misconduct.”

Neither officer has been named.

Friday, IMPD said another officer had been placed on administrative leave and stripped of police powers after the misconduct last month prompted an investigation into other irregular uses of the automated license plate readers.

Based on additional facts gathered, Terry recommended that officer be terminated.

“Using law enforcement technology or accessing confidential information for anything other than a legitimate public safety purpose is a serious violation of the trust our community places in us,” Terry said. “When an officer breaches that trust, we will investigation thoroughly, take action and hold them accountable.”

IMPD said it issued an updated standard operating procedure for automated license plate readers last month that every officer was required to sign to keep access to the technology. The procedure states that each search must now be tied to a case or incident number as well as a national incident-based reporting system offense code. The department began using stronger auditing procedures to identify and investigate potential misuses more quickly.

The department said in a press release Friday that it will support legislation that guides proper use of automated license plate readers while leveraging it as a law enforcement tool.

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