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License-plate readers · Tippecanoe County

Tippecanoe County

Using license-plate readers · 4 agencies documented

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Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
6
Six cameras in the initial purchase (2023), with more planned; no later count found.
Contract
Flock Safety: · approved by Tippecanoe County Board of Commissioners (meeting date not given) · Cost not stated. (WLFI, date not shown)
  1. Feb. 2023 County commissioners approved a Flock contract for the sheriff's office; Sheriff Bob Goldsmith planned six cameras at first. (WLFI, date not shown)
  2. Sept. 2026 West Lafayette's police chief said the sheriff's office has plate-reader cameras. (Purdue Exponent, Sept. 8, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • The WLFI page shows no date; Feb. 2023 is inferred from its CMS id (decodes to Feb. 8, 2023) and the story says commissioners acted 'this week'. Verify against commissioners' minutes.
  • Status rests on the Sept. 2026 Exponent interview (dated by month).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Lafayette Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
Count not documented
WLFI (2022) reported five cameras placed for a nine-month pilot, with five more planned; WBAA (March 31, 2022) reported 10 planned. No current count found.
Contract
Flock Safety: $100 installation fee and $2,500 annual fee per camera camera · Per-camera prices from a city presentation, as reported by WBAA in 2022; contract document and approval not found. (WBAA, March 31, 2022; WBAA, May 31, 2022)
  1. March 2022 Lafayette police were running five Flock cameras in a nine-month pilot; the department credited them with 41 arrests and 13 recovered vehicles. (WLFI, date not shown)
  2. March 31, 2022 City officials described plans to expand the Flock pilot to 10 cameras, with plate images deleted after 30 days unless tied to an open case. (WBAA, March 31, 2022)
  3. Sept. 2026 West Lafayette's police chief said Lafayette police, Purdue police and the sheriff's office all operate plate-reader cameras, and estimated about 62 live cameras countywide across public agencies and private properties. (Purdue Exponent, Sept. 8, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • In a Sept. 2026 interview, West Lafayette's police chief said Lafayette police have cameras; this is the basis for 'active'.
  • The source for the five-camera pilot (WLFI) shows no publication date; its CMS id decodes to March 31, 2022.
  • Status rests on the Purdue Exponent interview of Sept. 8, 2026.
  • March 2022 pilot event dated by month only.
  • Sept. 2026 interview event dated by month: the Exponent published it Sept. 8, 2026 without giving the interview date.

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

Purdue University Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
6
Six cameras announced in May 2022; no later count found.
Contract
Flock Safety: term · from 2022 · One-year trial contract (2022); price not stated. (Purdue University (Purdue News), May 31, 2022)
  1. May 31, 2022 Purdue police announced six Flock cameras on campus under a one-year test contract; the university said searches need a stated reason and data is not sold or shared with third parties. (Purdue University (Purdue News), May 31, 2022; WBAA, May 31, 2022)
  2. Sept. 2026 West Lafayette's police chief said Purdue police have plate-reader cameras. (Purdue Exponent, Sept. 8, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Status rests on the Sept. 2026 Exponent interview; no current Purdue document found. Interview dated by month (published Sept. 8, 2026).

Reported by news outlets; agency records not yet obtained.

West Lafayette Police Department

Status
Using license-plate readers
Vendors
Flock Safety
Cameras
4
Four fixed Flock cameras under contract; the chief said in Sept. 2026 that three were operating. WLFI also reported four city cameras and about 60 across Greater Lafayette, including Purdue's.
  1. May 2022 The West Lafayette City Council passed a resolution, written by Councilmember David Sanders, limiting plate-camera use and capping retention at 30 days unless tied to an active criminal investigation. (WBAA, May 31, 2022; Purdue Exponent, Sept. 8, 2026)
  2. May 31, 2022 The city announced a deal with Flock Safety for three cameras. (WBAA, May 31, 2022)
  3. Aug. 2026 In late August 2026 the department lowered its plate-data retention to seven days; in an interview published Sept. 8, the chief said no federal agency can access the city's plate data and no additional cameras are planned. (Purdue Exponent, Sept. 8, 2026)
  4. Sept. 22, 2026 Police scheduled a public information session on the cameras at Margerum City Hall. (WLFI, Sept. 3, 2026)
Conflicts and open questions
  • Resolution dated by month: WBAA links it to early May 2022 without a meeting date; vote tally not found.
  • Retention change dated by month: the chief said it took effect one and a half to two weeks before the interview published Sept. 8, 2026 (late August).
  • Camera count grew from three announced in 2022 to four under contract in 2026; the date of the change was not found.

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.