Porter County Sheriff’s Police officer disciplined for departmental Flock LPR policy violation

A Porter County Sheriff’s Police officer has been disciplined for violating the department’s policy regarding the use of Flock Safety license plate readers (LPRs), Sheriff Jeff Balon is reporting.

“The Porter County Sheriff’s Office does not normally comment on investigations involving internal affairs matters,” Balon said in a statement released today, Thursday, Aug. 27. “However, in light of the national focus on the issues surrounding License Plate Readers, I want to comment on a recent investigation involving our agency.”

Balon’s statement in its entirety:

“The PCSO received a complaint from a citizen who discovered that their license plate had been run by the PCSO through the Flock LPR system for a reason that was not consistent with PCSO policy. I immediately ordered an internal affairs investigation, and the outcome of the investigation confirmed that an officer did enter the citizen’s license plate into the Flock LPR system. The reason for the entry violated our policy.

“The outcome of the investigation resulted in the officer receiving a demotion in rank, an unpaid suspension, an indefinite suspension from the use of Flock, and remedial ethics training.

“The policy violation in this matter occurred under a prior version of the PCSO’s Flock policy. The officer’s actions violated the policy in effect at the time. Since then, we have further strengthened our policy and implemented additional safeguards governing the use of the Flock system. A case number and reason for the search are now required for all Flock searches conducted by any member of the Porter County Sheriff’s Office. We are also utilizing Flock’s Audit system, which uses Artificial Intelligence to identify searches that may be suspicious or otherwise raise concerns. Those searches are then flagged for review by our agency. These additional safeguards provide another level of oversight and accountability regarding the use of the Flock system.

“As I have mentioned in the past, LPRs are a valuable tool in fighting crime and helping our citizens in need. However, as with any law enforcement tool, if they are used inappropriately, we will hold our Officers accountable for their misuse.”