Indiana police officer charged with fraud over 300+ unauthorised Flock camera searches

Georgetown, Indiana officer Justin Craig was arrested Thursday on fraud and misconduct charges after allegedly using a licence plate camera system to track his wife's car and a former acquaintance.

Georgetown officer arrested after hundreds of personal plate searches flagged

A Georgetown Police Department officer in southern Indiana was arrested Thursday on charges of fraud and official misconduct, 21alivenews.com reports, following an investigation into his use of the Flock licence plate reader (LPR) system.

Indiana State Police (ISP) launched the inquiry after Georgetown's police chief was alerted to irregular search activity within the Flock network. An internal review found that officer Justin Craig had conducted numerous searches in 2026 that, according to ISP, "did not appear connected to any authorised investigation."

Court records show an ISP trooper identified 88 searches tied to the vehicle driven by Craig's wife. A further 230-plus searches were linked to a car and motorcycle belonging to a "previous acquaintance" of hers. All searches were carried out during Craig's scheduled duty hours.

Investigators examined the system logs and found Craig had logged reasons such as traffic violations, drug offences, assault, or vehicle theft to justify the queries. Georgetown's police chief confirmed that none of the vehicles involved were connected to any active investigations. ISP concluded Craig had accessed Flock data "in a manner inconsistent with department policy and without lawful purpose."

A warrant was served Thursday and Craig was taken into custody before being released on bond. He faces two counts of fraud and one count of official misconduct.

Craig's attorney, Matthew Lemme, disputed the charges in a written statement. "Flock sells this same technology to cities, homeowners associations, and shopping malls," Lemme wrote. "When public criticism of it came, the response was to put it on the shoulders of individual police officers." He argued the alleged conduct does not violate any existing law or department policy, and said Craig would file a motion to dismiss.

The Georgetown Police Department confirmed in a statement that Craig was placed on paid administrative leave on 31 August 2026 following the initial allegation. The department said it would not be providing further comment given the pending criminal case.

Craig joined the Georgetown Police Department in May 2025 and was one of only three full-time officers on the force.

Source: Google News GY — Georgetown