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License-plate readers · Allen County

Allen County

Using license-plate readers · 2 agencies documented

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Allen County Sheriff's Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
10
10 plate-reader cameras countywide (WANE, June 2026; The Journal Gazette, Aug. 2026).
  1. June 2026 Huntertown Town Councilman Brandon Seifert said a sheriff-owned Flock camera had been placed inside town limits without town correspondence about it, and said he wanted the countywide system paused. (WANE 15, June 13, 2026)
  2. Aug. 2026 The Journal Gazette reported the sheriff's department had 10 Flock cameras with 30-day retention. (The Journal Gazette, Aug. 7, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Data sharing (department statement to WANE): access limited to law enforcement agencies in the Flock network for a valid law enforcement purpose; data not sold; activity logged and audited.
  • Retention 30 days per The Journal Gazette (Aug. 7, 2026).
  • Huntertown event dated by month: the WANE story (June 13, 2026) gives no date for the councilman's discovery.
  • Aug. 2026 entry is the date of The Journal Gazette's report (Aug. 7, 2026), not an event date.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Fort Wayne Police Department

Status
Ended or removed
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
36
36 Flock plate readers before shutdown, up from eight in the 2024 trial; expansion was grant-funded. The cameras were offline as of Aug. 31, 2026, with removal pending.
Contract
Flock Safety: term · from April 2024 · First agreement in April 2024. Earlier spending ($25,200 in July 2024 and $92,995 in 2025, per WANE) stayed under the $100,000 level that needs a council vote. The proposed renewal, about $120,000, was the first to need council approval and was not approved. (The Journal Gazette, Aug. 7, 2026; WANE 15, May 27, 2026)
  1. March 2024 Fort Wayne police began a Flock trial with eight cameras. (The Journal Gazette, Aug. 7, 2026)
  2. May 26, 2026 At a City Council committee session, the Flock renewal drew four votes in favor (Bender, Freistroffer, Chambers, Paddock) and five against (Booker, Myers, Hartman, Ensley, Jehl). In regular session the council unanimously agreed to hold the item until July 14, on Councilman Russ Jehl's motion. (WANE 15, May 27, 2026)
  3. July 2026 The council voted 6-1 to put off the final vote on the Flock contract until late August, at Jehl's request, so that police policies could be written into city code. Councilman Paul Ensley voted no, noting the cameras were running with no contract in place. (WBOI (Northeast Indiana Public Radio), July 15, 2026)
  4. Aug. 2026 Police Chief P.J. Smith said he had weighed keeping the cameras under a smaller contract; hours later Mayor Sharon Tucker said the council vote was final. On Aug. 31 the chief announced the cameras would be removed and that no smaller contract would be sought; the 36 cameras were offline. (WBOI (Northeast Indiana Public Radio), Aug. 31, 2026)
  5. Aug. 25, 2026 The City Council voted 8-0 to end the license plate reader program; Councilman Scott Myers was absent. (WBOI (Northeast Indiana Public Radio), Aug. 25, 2026; WPTA 21Alive, Aug. 25, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • July 2026 delay vote dated by month: WBOI's July 15 story does not give the meeting date.
  • Aug. 2026 smaller-contract announcement was on a Thursday (date not given in the WBOI story); the removal announcement was Monday, Aug. 31.
  • Sources differ on the old contract's end: The Journal Gazette says it expired in June 2026; WANE (May 27) says it ran through 2026; WBOI (July 15) says the cameras were running without a contract.
  • Per The Journal Gazette (Aug. 7, 2026): data kept up to 180 days unless needed for an investigation; about 260 law enforcement agencies had access to Fort Wayne's data.
  • The cameras were first acquired with a U.S. Department of Justice grant (WBOI).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Statewide

  1. 2015 Then-Sen. Jim Smith (R-Clarksville) filed a bill to set statewide plate-reader rules, including purging data after 30 days absent a warrant or ongoing investigation. Prosecutors and the state police chiefs' association opposed it, and it died in committee without a vote. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Jan. 2023)
  2. Feb. 2026 Gov. Mike Braun signed House Enrolled Act 1150 in February 2026. Section 3 of the act creates IC 32-25.5-3.8, effective July 1, 2026. Under it, a homeowners association may not install, maintain or operate an automated license plate reader. It may allow one on its property only if a law enforcement agency installs it or has it installed, only law enforcement can reach the images and data, and the association cannot see them. The law does not regulate how police use the readers. (Indiana General Assembly (mirrored by billtexts), 2026; The Indiana Citizen, Aug. 13, 2026; Indiana Capital Chronicle, Aug. 24, 2026)
  3. Aug. 2026 The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported that the HOA law is the state's only plate-reader restriction. Rep. Jim Pressel (R-Rolling Prairie) said he was drafting a bill for the session that convenes in January setting minimum standards for police use, likely including agency audits of searches, yearly Indiana State Police audits, retention limits and rules on sharing with outside agencies. Sen. Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis) said he wants a broad review of plate-reader use. Gov. Braun's press secretary said "Guardrails are important and should be considered anytime personal information is involved." (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Aug. 24, 2026; Mirror Indy, Aug. 26, 2026)
  4. Aug. 2026 Indiana State Police applied for a U.S. Justice Department grant (FY2026 program for agencies in ICE's 287(g) program) listing $29,069,985 in its report to the State Budget Committee ($30,269,985 in a revised budget). The planned purchases include 20 license-plate reader camera systems for $300,000. The committee did not review the request in advance; at an August meeting Rep. Ed DeLaney's motion to put it on the review agenda failed along party lines. The application was pending as of Sept. 8, 2026. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Sept. 9, 2026; Mirror Indy, Sept. 9, 2026)
  5. Aug. 10, 2026 Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said in his online video series that he does not want government in "the business of mass surveillance" and has been talking with lawmakers about limits on police use of plate-reader tools; he did not back specific proposals or call for ending the technology. (The Indiana Citizen, Aug. 13, 2026)

State agencies

Indiana State Police

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Motorola Solutions
Cameras
Count not documented
In early 2023 ISP had 47 fixed cameras, mostly in or near Indianapolis, and had stopped using vehicle-mounted cameras. No current count found.
Contract
Motorola Solutions: term · In early 2023 the Indiana Department of Administration said the Vigilant Solutions (Motorola Solutions) system had cost more than $250,000 since the prior August. No contract document found. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Jan. 2023)
  1. Jan. 2023 ISP said it had used plate readers for more than a decade, scanning about one million plates a month; its 2015 operating procedure keeps image data 30 days, requires reasonable suspicion for a query, and allows sharing with agencies that also show reasonable suspicion. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Jan. 2023)
  2. Aug. 2026 ISP said troopers must enter a dispatch or case number for every search and that district investigative commanders audit records at their discretion. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Aug. 24, 2026)
  3. Sept. 2026 ISP's federal grant application said plate-reader data is generally purged after 30 days unless kept in an investigative file, and that the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center may share information with authorized personnel and must keep an audit trail. The application seeks 20 more plate-reader systems ($300,000); it was pending as of Sept. 8, 2026. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Sept. 9, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Vendor is from 2023 reporting; no newer vendor or contract record found. Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center (run by ISP) is covered here rather than as a separate agency.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Indiana Department of Correction

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
No count. Reported as using plate-reader data; not known whether it owns cameras.
  1. Aug. 2026 IDOC uses plate-reader data to find escapees and parolees who violate supervision terms, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Aug. 24, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • No contract or vendor found.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Indiana Department of Transportation

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Vendor not named in source
Cameras
Count not documented
No count. Reported as accessing plate data; not known whether it owns cameras.
  1. Aug. 2026 According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, INDOT uses plate-reader data to keep watch on toll operations, work zones and safety zones. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Aug. 24, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • No INDOT right-of-way permit policy for plate-reader cameras was found. An undated Greenfield Daily Reporter story on McCordsville said Flock handles permitting with INDOT for cameras it installs (in261029-a-dailyreporter-mccordsville).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.