Enough Is Enough IMPD, Rip These Flock Cameras Out!
- Power corrupts, and the surveillance system is about surveillance, not public safety.
- One abuse is too much - the entire camera system should be removed.
- Katz argues the mayor and prosecutor are ducking accountability on crime by relying on technology.
Enough Is Enough IMPD, Rip These Flock Cameras Out!
IMPD Officer Caught Abusing License Plate Camera Network — Tony Katz Says That’s Reason Enough to Rip Them Out. Katz isn’t interested in apologies. “I don’t care — get rid of the cameras,” Katz said, after IMPD confirmed one of its own officers spent months secretly abusing the city’s Flock license plate reader system.
According to IMPD Chief Tanya Terry, the unnamed officer accessed the Flock network hundreds of times for personal reasons with no legitimate law enforcement purpose. The officer has been suspended without pay, and Terry is recommending termination. No criminal charges have been filed.
For Katz, this isn’t a rogue-employee story — it’s proof of concept. “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Katz argued, insisting the surveillance network was never really about public safety. “It is not about safety, it is not about security. It is about surveillance.”
Katz says he’s glad the chief wants the officer gone, but that’s not nearly enough. “I think the chief should have the cameras ripped out of the ground,” he said, adding he’d tell Terry as much “without an ounce of hesitation.”
Translation: one bad apple doesn’t need pruning — the whole tree needs to go.
Katz is also aiming past IMPD, straight at Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, both of whom he says are ducking accountability on crime while leaning on tech instead of doing the actual work. Hogsett, Katz said, “is horrible at his job,” while Mears is “an ideological freak as opposed to a man serious about law enforcement.” Not exactly a subtweet — Katz named names.
Chief Terry, for her part, isn’t budging on removing the system entirely. She says Flock has helped IMPD solve violent crimes, recover stolen vehicles, locate missing children, and crack a $2 million jewelry store robbery. Katz doesn’t dispute the wins — he just doesn’t think they’re worth the risk.
That puts him, oddly enough, on the same side as the ACLU — a group he says he normally doesn’t trust. “It’s weird that I’m on the same side as the ACLU,” Katz admitted, “because very rarely does the ACLU actually care about civil liberties.”
His bottom line: this won’t be the last officer to misuse the system, because the temptation never goes away. “One abuse is too much,” Katz said. “Get rid of the damn cameras.”
Hear Tony Katz break it down live weekdays on WIBC 93.1 FM, or catch the full segment on-demand.
Listen to the “Enough Is Enough IMPD, Rip These Flock Cameras Out!” discussion in full here:
