MUNCIE, IN — A Flock Safety Automated License Plate Reader on Ball State’s campus was cut down during the early hours of Aug. 4 at the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Dicks Street.
Ball State University Content and Media Strategy Manager Andrew Walker confirmed the incident.
“UPD is aware of the incident and is investigating. At this time, we have no additional information to share while the matter is under investigation,” he said via email.
DeFlock, an open-source website designed to map ALPRs, shows 12 cameras on Ball State’s campus, along with one on the corner of University Avenue and Dicks Street, one by Christy Woods near the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Tilotson Avenue, and one on University Avenue toward the intersection with Tilotson Avenue.
DeFlock notes that of these 15, only six are Flock-branded cameras designed to read license plates, and the other nine are Axis Communications security network cameras.
Privacy concerns surrounding Flock cameras have become a national debate in recent months, from which Indiana counties are not exempt. The Washington Post reported Aug. 2 that at least 50 law enforcement officers across the country have been accused of misusing the system for personal surveillance reasons.
Late last month, Monroe County commissioners voted to cancel their contract with Flock, calling the technology “mass surveillance,” according to Fox 59 reporting.
The Muncie Police Department originally installed 22 Flock cameras in August 2022 at a cost of about $2,500 each.
“We’re very excited about it,” Muncie Police Chief Nate Sloan said in 2022. “We think it’s going to be a serious tool, not only in reduction of crime, but in the solving of criminal activity.”
Meanwhile, Sloan and other officers met on Tuesday, July 28, with Muncie City Council members William McIntosh, Jerry Dishman and Dale Basham to discuss Flock cameras.
The council members said they had not been contacted by citizens with concerns about the cameras. But Sloan said another council member, Nora Powell, said she had heard concerns, but she was unable to attend the meeting.
“We know there’s a lot of misconceptions about Flock,” Sloan said. “People think this system is capable of doing all kinds of crazy things, including looking into a car and facial recognition and all these things.”
Officers at the meeting included Lt. Joe Duncan of the detective division, Mike Nickens of Muncie-Delaware County Drug Task Force, crime scene technician Sgt. Brandon Qualls, Sgt. Mariah Copeland and Capt. Steve Cox.
“I have never received one phone call about Flock,” Sloan said. Some time ago the MPD offered a presentation about the system that drew about a dozen people.
Copeland said that to use the system, officers have to specify what kind of case they are investigating, a vehicle description, plate number or partial plate number.
“We have to have a valid law enforcement reason,” Sloan said.
“It doesn’t tell us who’s driving the car. It doesn’t tell us what they did or anything like that. It just gives us an idea of what cars matching that description were in the area at the time of the alleged crime.”
“We use Flock in almost every one of our investigations,” Duckham said. “It is just such a valuable resource for us. And it’s not only solved cases, it’s almost a part of our investigation. We frequently use it for putting a vehicle in a place at a certain time.”
The system was used in a 2024 robbery case at a check-cashing business and allowed police to link the vehicle involved in the theft of a license plate near the Ball State campus. The suspect, recently convicted in the Muncie case, was on federal parole for armed robbery. The perpetrators weren’t from Muncie, but Flock allowed the case to be resolved within 12 hours.
“Our guys are good,” Duckham said. “Without Flock, we’re probably not making that arrest. At least not as quickly.”
The cameras were also helpful in a 2023 homicide case at Elgin Manor Apartments. The system showed him in his home state of Michigan two days before fatal shooting, in Muncie the day of the killing, then back to Michigan. “He had the motive, he had the means and now we know he’s in the area,” Duckham said. “Flock was massively helpful in that investigation.”
Copeland said police have used the system in searches for missing persons and suspects. A victim can be alerted if a missing person in a domestic violence investigation has returned to the area.
Sloan said Flock is used by police departments in every major city in Indiana except for Hammond, Bloomington and Richmond. About 5,000 agencies nationwide use it.
“There is no personal use for this for any reason,” Sloan said. All information collected — except for information downloaded for criminal investigations — is “all deleted, on a rolling basis, every 30 days.”
Muncie police do not issue traffic tickets from Flock, or share its information with federal agencies, Sloan said.
“This is not what I would consider intrusive,” he said. “It’s not what the courts consider intrusive, either.”
Other officers named hit-and-run crashes and drug investigations as cases that benefit from the program; for example, the travels of drug-dealing suspects to and from a “source city.”
Recently, an elderly woman’s family members in West Virginia couldn’t reach her. Cox said Flock helped officers find her in a disabled vehicle, with her phone also dead.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Flock camera cut down on Ball State campus as Muncie officials discuss system
Reporting by Trinity Rea and Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Trinity Rea and Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press | USA TODAY Network
