Ex-deputy accused of searching for same license plate 2,055 times on Flock

BROWNSTOWN, Ind. (WISH) — An arrest warrant was issued Monday for a former deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office who is accused of using a Flock camera system for personal reasons.

Prosecutors say Skylar Thompson searched the same license plate 2,055 times between Dec. 31, 2025, and Aug. 2, 2026.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office found the alleged misconduct during a routine audit of its Flock camera system.

Investigators allege Thompson listed “City Planning/Traffic Analysis” as the reason for every search. However, the office had never assigned Thompson to duties involving city planning or traffic patterns.

Thompson faces charges of official misconduct, a low-level felony, and fraud, a misdemeanor.

After finding the suspected misuse, the sheriff’s office asked the Indiana State Police to investigate and notified the prosecutor.

“Law enforcement officers are entrusted with access to sensitive information and investigative tools,” Jackson County Prosecutor Lynsey Fleetwood said in a statement.

“No person is above the law, especially those entrusted with enforcing it.” Fleetwood said her office has a no-tolerance policy for cases where public trust is violated.

This is not the only time a person in law enforcement has been accused of misusing Flock cameras.

On Aug. 6, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department learned an officer was using the city’s automated license plate reading cameras for personal reasons.

The officer was immediately stripped of police powers, according to IMPD Chief Tanya Terry. Investigators also seized the officer’s department-issued computer and equipment.

Terry told Indiana’s I-Team that the officer accessed the Flock camera system hundreds of times to monitor a small group of license plates that had no connection to any official investigation.

Terry recommended that the officer should be fired. “This was intentional misconduct,” she said.

IMPD recently updated its internal policies to require that all searches link to a specific investigation. This change aims to stop personal “fishing expeditions.” Terry noted that the department had begun implementing this policy before these allegations occurred.

Earlier this month, Flock Safety announced that it is making changes to its platform intended to quell privacy concerns and address documented abuses of its system by some members of law enforcement.

In an interview, Flock CEO Garrett Langley said many of the product changes will make what were once optional guardrails mandatory for its users to implement by Jan. 1.

• Flock will mandate new tools to curb police abuse of license plate readers

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