@dmac1

Corporate accountability reporter @washingtonpost. Formerly @WSJ @Bloomberg @BW. Same thing we do every night, Pinky šŸ­ Signal: douglasmac.02

 Washington, D.C.
washingtonpost.com/people/douglas-macmillan/
Joined August 2008
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360Media
Police departments are not regularly auditing how their officers use Flock, a powerful surveillance network -- so we did it for them. Three cops are now being investigated and one was arrested as a result of our inquiries. Here's how we did it... šŸ§µ
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Lot of eye-opening details in this new Post story on how Flock's lackadaisical attitude toward security -- the company didn't require 2FA until this August -- has allowed unauthorized people to access sensitive data washingtonpost.com/technologā€¦
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Drew Harwell@drewharwellOct 21
New: We found cops who kept using Flock to spy on women after they left the force. One used it for five years after retirement, spying on his wife during a custody battle. Another ran searches while he was suspended (and later fired) after killing a 15-year-old boy. šŸ§µ
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The story is the part you see. This is the journalism behind it. We take you inside our investigation into the misuse of Flock Safetyā€™s nationwide network of license plate readers. We are Relentless. Read more: bit.ly/4xQjbPC
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Scott Nover@ScottNoverSep 29
Very cool @washingtonpost campaign highlighting the incredible reporting on police misuse of Flock cameras by @drewharwell, @dmac1 and Aaron Schaffer, shepherded by @SobelFitts. adage.com/creativity/work/aaā€¦

Washington Post highlights its Flock camera investigation as it unveils ā€˜Relentlessā€™ brand platform

Uncommonā€™s campaign includes a special edition built around the Postā€™s reporting on police misuse of the cameras.

adage.com
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Doug MacMillan retweeted
Drew Harwell@drewharwellSep 24
Our Flock reporting just got five cops arrested. The Indiana cops were just criminally charged for spying on women. @aaronjschaffer, @dmac1 and I found suspicious searches and got their agency to investigate. How many bad cops are still getting away? wapo.st/4xDOH3d
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Drew Harwell@drewharwellSep 23
Five cops in Indianapolis were just criminally charged with abusing Flock to spy on their ex-wives, their wives' ex-partners and women they met on duty. Audit was triggered by us at the @washingtonpost, the prosecutor said. Story incoming.
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Rebekah Allen@rebekahallenAug 28
The gov's action on Flock cameras comes as @a_y_denrunnels was preparing to publish this investigation into how a state agency appointed by Abbott has used an auto insurance fee increase passed by #txlege to massively expand the Flock network across Texs texastribune.org/2026/08/28/ā€¦

How a $1 Texas insurance fee funded thousands of Flock cameras

The higher fee, meant to combat catalytic converter theft, provided millions to expand the Flock network across Texas. Some lawmakers say that wasnā€™t the intent.

texastribune.org
Rebekah Allen@rebekahallenAug 28
Scoop: @a_y_denrunnels reports Gov. Greg Abbott has paused state funding for Flock cameras texastribune.org/2026/08/28/ā€¦

Abbott blocks state agencies from spending money on Flock cameras

The order came as The Texas Tribune was preparing to publish an investigation detailing how a state agency has devoted at least $30 million to building the stateā€™s Flock surveillance network.

texastribune.org
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Drew Harwell@drewharwellAug 28
New: Americans' feelings toward Flock & license-plate readers have completely flipped since last year. More Americans now oppose police use than support it, saying the cameras don't make them feel safer and that they don't want any near their homes. What the new polls show: šŸ§µ
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Robert Frommer
@Robert_FrommerAug 27
Wow! Recent polling shows that pretty much every American demographic group views Flock unfavorably. Proud to see that privacy and security is something we can all get behind!
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Drew Harwell@drewharwellAug 26
.@GovRonDeSantis cites the case of the Florida cop we first found misusing Flock data, says license plate readers are "out of control" and could lead to a ā€œsurveillance stateā€: "What the hellā€™s going on with this? ... People are right to be concerned" floridapolitics.com/archivesā€¦

Flock off? Ron DeSantis says automated license plate readers 'out of control,' warns of 'surveill...

'What the hell's going on with this?'

floridapolitics.com
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Rob Poggenklass@rpoggeAug 19
This type of public reviewā€”which resulted in three investigations and one arrestā€”is not even possible in Virginia because of a massive freedom of information act exemption in the 2025 law purporting to regulate law enforcement use of ALPRs.
Doug MacMillan@dmac1Aug 19
Police departments are not regularly auditing how their officers use Flock, a powerful surveillance network -- so we did it for them. Three cops are now being investigated and one was arrested as a result of our inquiries. Here's how we did it... šŸ§µ
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These cops misused your service for years and went undetected by their departments, who never did audits. They only took action after journalists read the audit logs and flagged the suspicious use to the departments. Which part of catching these cops is Flock taking credit for?
Rahul Sidhu
@rahulAug 19
You're going to see more stories about Flock catching bad cops misuse the database. We're the only company in the industry with this level of auditing at scale. If the others had this level of auditing, you'd see a lot more stories about cops abusing DMV data, etc.
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Robert Frommer
@Robert_FrommerAug 19
In IJ's Norfolk, Va.'s Flock lawsuit, we learned that for 2 years no one at the NPD reviewed the audit logs (history of who searched for what). Even after we sued, they didn't start until after they lost their motion to dismiss. It turned out to be one guy in a basement.
The Washington Post
@washingtonpostAug 19
Exclusive: Law enforcement agencies around the country have embraced Flockā€™s powerful surveillance system without establishing basic procedures for monitoring its use, a Post investigation has found. wapo.st/4gBIpvP

Police departments werenā€™t looking for officers abusing Flock. We did it for them.

An investigation by The Post led to the discipline of two officers accused of misusing license-plate readers. Their departments and many others had not done basic oversight.

washingtonpost.com
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Peener Cetera@jaigbaigAug 19
Replying to @dmac1
Takes a lot of air out of the argument that cops getting caught & 'punished' shows the system working how it should when this is what it takes to catch them
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Drew Harwell@drewharwellAug 19
A sheriff's office in Louisiana just fired a Flock-misusing deputy known as DJ Bulletproof (the media outlet was us, btw) wdsu.com/article/louisiana-sā€¦
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Other departments took swift action, too. Indianapolis police chief Tanya Terry suspended an officer without pay after my outreach. She acknowledged her agency wasn't doing regular audits prior to this incident. (Grace Hollars/IndyStar/USA Today/Reuters)
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Gift link to full story with @aaronjschaffer @drewharwell here: wapo.st/4xSDfS4

Police departments werenā€™t looking for officers abusing Flock. We did it for them.

An investigation by The Post led to the discipline of two officers accused of misusing license-plate readers. Their departments and many others had not done basic oversight.

washingtonpost.com
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