Five Police Officers Criminally Charged for Misusing Flock Cameras in Indianapolis (msn.com)
- Reference: 0185848210
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/24/0433242/five-police-officers-criminally-charged-for-misusing-flock-cameras-in-indianapolis
- Source link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/five-indianapolis-officers-charged-following-the-post-s-reporting-on-flock-misuse/ar-AA2cR2Ee
In fact, five Indianapolis police officers were just criminally charged Wednesday with fraud and misconduct. "One has also been charged with stalking," the police department said [3]in a statement , noting that one office had already resigned, "while the four other officers have been suspended and recommended for termination. County prosecutor Ryan Mears admitted "A lot of this was initiated by The Washington Post."
And the Post [4] published a new investigation Wednesday :
> Using publicly available information, The Post found that...one of the officers charged Wednesday, appeared to have relied on Flock cameras to track vehicles used by his wife and two close personal acquaintances, searching the plates 3,759 times over a 10-month period — an average of about 12 lookups per day. At the time, Police Chief Tanya Terry said she suspended one officer while the department conducted an investigation into possible misuse and a systemwide audit of the city's 301-camera Flock system. That audit led to the discovery of more widespread abuse, [County prosecutor Ryan] Mears said Wednesday.
>
> Mears said the department's findings highlight the vast power Flock cameras give police officers and raise questions about whether the government should be doing more to prevent the misuse of that power. "Many of the proposed guardrails and the things that have been proposed would not have prevented the behaviors and actions we see here today," Mears said. "Does there need to be independent oversight? Does there need to be judicial oversight of the Flock camera system?"
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> One of the Indianapolis officers, Schultz, an 18-year veteran of the police department, was accused of using Flock to track his ex-wife and women he met while on duty or out in public. He was charged with multiple counts of official misconduct as well as two counts of stalking. Schultz told one woman he was an FBI agent, according to prosecutors, and began texting her and showing up at places she frequented, including at her gym and at a school function with her daughter. Prosecutors said he arrived at her gym within an hour of her at least nine times between June 12 and Aug. 1 of this year... Another woman met Schultz after her car was stolen from a mall parking lot, and he began texting her flirty messages later that night. The two dated briefly, and Schultz later looked up where the woman went on dates with another man. Schultz searched the plates of a third woman 178 times and also frequently showed up where she was, including her gym, a Smoothie King and a Walmart earlier this month...
>
> A third officer, Binford, told investigators he had used the log-in credentials of another officer who had logged in to Binford's laptop during a field training exercise. Binford searched the plate of his ex-wife more than 1,000 times between April 2024 and April 2025. Indianapolis police had no regular practice of auditing officers' Flock searches until recently, [Police Chief] Terry said in an interview last month. The department's investigation into the tool's misuse has been "a learning process for us," she said at the time.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/five-indianapolis-officers-charged-following-the-post-s-reporting-on-flock-misuse/ar-AA2cR2Ee
[2] https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/rogue-officers-turned-nationwide-camera-122127787.html
[3] https://x.com/IMPDnews/status/2102823144130052278
[4] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/five-indianapolis-officers-charged-following-the-post-s-reporting-on-flock-misuse/ar-AA2cR2Ee
No government surveillance without a warrant (Score:5, Insightful)
This company exists for its public surveillance contracts with LEOs nationwide. Thus it is government surveillance prior to a warrant. Does not matter that it is outsourced to a private company, for-profit or not. I believe any warrant for such data should exclude any data gathered before the warrant was signed by a judge. The Flock company is in damage-control mode. The ones charged were probably just sacrificial for the purpose of building the illusion of accountability with the public.
Re: (Score:2)
I have to believe that also, the time frames and numbers here are just too wild that this was just an oversight, this is sanctioned behaviour. Thousands of searches? a dozen every day? With no warrant or having to check oversight for a reason for that many searches?
I also have to assume every search request is probably charged as well so did the taxpayers pay for these creeps to stalk women all day?
I appreciate cops making their own case for defind-the-police, obviously they have too much free time and acc
sanctioned???+there are 737k officers (Score:3)
> I have to believe that also, the time frames and numbers here are just too wild that this was just an oversight, this is sanctioned behaviour. Thousands of searches? a dozen every day? With no warrant or having to check oversight for a reason for that many searches?
> I also have to assume every search request is probably charged as well so did the taxpayers pay for these creeps to stalk women all day?
> I appreciate cops making their own case for defind-the-police, obviously they have too much free time and access to toys than they can be trusted with.
You're welcome to your opinion, but every cop I know today or have met would not condone this. There are approximately 737,000 full-time sworn law enforcement officers employed in the United States, according to recent Statista data. So a few assholes doing 1000s of searches, thinking they wouldn't be held accountable doesn't seem like a conspiracy to me. It seems like a few shitty cops thinking the rules don't apply to them.
Also, fuck off with the Defund the Police talk unless you're actively campaign
Re: (Score:1)
Wow found the cop or someone with one in their family. When the next NAZI regime forms they will need police to enact their torture and the police will always sign up to do it.
ACAB to you too motherfucker.
Re: sanctioned???+there are 737k officers (Score:3)
"You don't punish the entire police force."
You do if you want justice for the allegedly good cops breaking the law by covering for the clearly bad cops.
Re: (Score:3)
You really should look up what defunding the police actually means.
You do know criminals (Score:2)
Do not generally make it a habit to admit to their crimes right? And people who sympathize with criminals also do not generally let people know that they sympathize with criminals.
What I'm saying is that your cop buddies aren't likely to tell you that they think it's cool to spy on ex's using police resources. But based on a lot of the statistics we have about them at least 40% do...
If nothing else getting ammo to win a divorce is something you can get a lot of people behind regardless of how the in
Re: (Score:2)
> I believe any warrant for such data should exclude any data gathered before the warrant was signed by a judge.
I think it should be more like demanding to see CCTV footage (that was also taken in the past) in that you can obtain data only for specific addresses/cameras specified in the warrant. Then if there's reasonable suspicion that certain nearby cameras would also contain information pertinent to this investigation, you would go and get a warrant for data from those cameras, too. Rinse and repeat. Tha
Re: (Score:2)
Correct, it is a long-solved problem with no new difference other than public outrage at abuses.
It is terrible that a private corporation seeks to profit in this manner, but that's an entirely different issue. All sorts of entities generate security footage for private reasons, with that footage obtainable using a judge's order. Nothing to see here.
Re: (Score:2)
As a layman, that makes perfect sense. As a lawyer the story might be different. We all know that it's not entrapment as long as the police get a camera crew to entrap for them. A popular TV show was based on exploitation of that.
If someone burglarizes your house, is your neighbor's security camera footage unusable because it was gathered before a warrant? Isn't a private security camera's intention to capture someone doing something bad, just like Flock?
"Thus it is government surveillance prior to a wa
Re: (Score:2)
We all know that it's not entrapment as long as the police get a camera crew to entrap for them. A popular TV show was based on exploitation of that.
Don't know what entrapment is, do ya? Here's a hint: if the criminals were going to commit the act anyway, it's not entrapment.
correction (Score:2)
Five Police Officers Criminally Charged for Misusing Flock Cameras in Indianapolis so far
12 lookups a day for 10 months (Score:2)
And this guy carries a gun and can shoot people with impunity. Just imagine what he's already gotten away with.
Systemic problem bigger than Flock here... (Score:2)
People are getting angry about officers mis-using Flock to stalk or spy on ex's and other women they meet. But the bigger problem is the law enforcement culture itself. This has been going on for decades now, with very little real effort to change things. It's pretty much common knowledge that police have one of the higher rates of divorce and relationship issues. It's the type of job where people wear the uniform and are given some power over the general public, with the assertion that they're only there t
Re: Systemic problem bigger than Flock here... (Score:2, Insightful)
It's not even risky for what they are paid. Being a janitor is MUCH more likely to kill you and doesn't pay nearly as well. Fuck their crying about the job. Being an RV repairman is more dangerous as well, working on gas and electrical and being on the roofs of wobbly RVs, I've done that so I don't want to hear any shit about cops' job being dangerous. Fucking crybabies should try getting a real job.
Re: (Score:2)
The Mexican roofers they help kidnap have way more dangerous jobs.
Anger at Flock is not enough (Score:3)
Everyone is focusing on Flock, but there are lots of other companies where law enforcement gets this or similar data from. Focusing on Flock will not save us from this. The only thing that will is pestering our elected officials to change the laws. Law enforcement long ago figured out that they could get around constitutional rights when data comes from non-governmental companies. The only thing that is going to fix this is the laws being updated to the point that anything that government needs a warrant for if they do directly, would also need a warrant if they use non-governmental data. Otherwise we will just be chasing our tails from one company to the next.
On the up side (Score:2)
If convicted, these police officers will get to be on the other side of the camera, either in segregate/solitary housing or staring in a new series, "The Housewives of Prison."
Re: (Score:2)
Oh you think they’ll do jail time?
I live in Indianapolis my father was murdered (Score:3)
This is what they spend their time doing while the person who murdered my father in 2007 walks free. Defund the whole disgusting department. I hate IMPD. 1312.
higher standard (Score:2)
The Police get protection for Qualified Immunity. In order to have that Police should be held to a higher standard of conduct. We expect better of soldiers in war zones than we do of Police in our own cities.
These guys should get the book thrown at them, twice.
A gym is a Walmart? (Score:3)
and also frequently showed up where she was, including her gym, a Smoothie King and a Walmart earlier this month...
This is why the Oxford comma is used.
Good job, Indiana. (Score:1)
Fuck me, that felt weird to say.
Learning (Score:1)
"The department's investigation into the tool's misuse has been "a learning process for us," she said at the time."
Are they just now learning ACAB?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
> Are they just now learning ACAB?
Are you 12 years old? Or stupid? Having worked with law enforcement 30 years ago and dealing with them on occasion since then I can tell you that some are certainly bastards. But they are the exception and not all or even the majority.
There are tens of thousands of law enforcement encounters every day in the US. You never see the good ones. Just the same handful of bad ones over and over. Is there room for improvement? Of course there is. There's always room for improvement in everything. Why don't you
Re: Learning (Score:5, Interesting)
Where are all the stories about all these good cops referring the bad cops to the DA for charges & testifying against them? These should be numerous, considering how many members of law enforcement are out there.
Re: (Score:1)
> One of the Indianapolis officers, Schultz, an 18-year veteran of the police department, was accused of using Flock to track his ex-wife and women he met while on duty or out in public. He was charged with multiple counts of official misconduct as well as two counts of stalking. Schultz told one woman he was an FBI agent, according to prosecutors, and began texting her and showing up at places she frequented, including at her gym and at a school function with her daughter.
Seriously, fuck you.
Why did so many "good" cops allow one of their own to be an asshole for 18 years? Because they protect their fucked up coworkers, which makes them all bastards. No, I'm not joining those bastards, fuck them. Cops have made themselves societies enemy, they brought my attitude on themselves.
Why do you think that people hate Police but not Firefighters or EMTs? I'm sure you think its because Police have a hard job. Its because Police operate more like a Gang than anything else, they have po
Re:Learning (Score:4, Insightful)
As a counterpoint, ACAB, actually. The "good cops" don't report the "bad cops", so they're also bad. Cops are vastly overrepresented in areas like domestic violence (which ties into stalking, as we're seeing here), they form fucking gangs and cheer each other on when they kill people (look up LA sheriff's department gangs), when democratically elected mayors want to put some checks and balances in place, they throw a fit and just don't follow orders, when they go on strike the crime rate goes down, they're basically never held accountable for what for anyone else would obviously be considered straight up murder, yeah, ACAB, a thousand times.
Re: Learning (Score:1)
I got down this far.
Three Wambaugh plots so far, can't wait to read the rest. /s
Re: (Score:1)
> Cops are vastly overrepresented in areas like domestic violence
High stress jobs that require physical confrontation tend to do that. Military, corrections and policing all have this issue. Most police spend 90% of their time being bored. Less than 1% of the time is in physical conflict in most departments. But it can happen randomly at any time. Do you think that's a fun time? Linemen that work for electric companies are also over represented. High stress, unpredictable jobs that a person can get injured or killed doing are not great for mental health. Maybe department
Re: Learning (Score:2)
You know what you've got when you've got one bad cop with nine bad cops covering for him?
Ten bad cops.
Re: (Score:3)
If you turn in corrupt NYC cops they raid your home and get you placed in a mental institution. [1]https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new... [nbcnewyork.com]
So little has changed since Frank Serpico was shot in the face while his colleagues refused to call for an ambulance. A neighbor had to call.
[1] https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nypd-whistleblower-cop-quotas-settlement-secret-audio-recordings/1098431/?amp=1
Reality denial (Score:2)
Your pretty fantasy dissolves in the face of police omerta.
All of your "good" cops are complicit in the acts of the thieves, racists, and psychopaths. They more than tolerate it - they actively impede attempts to bring these criminals to justice. It is literally a mockery of justice by the very enforcers who are supposed to fight for it.
Anyone remember all the performative outrage about "Stop Snitching" stuff? Just another attack on rival gangs.