![]() Scanners are a reasonable purchase from a county's general funds, says Matthew Costello, who worked at a Detroit jail for 29 years and now helps jails develop addiction treatment programs as part of Wayne State University's Center for Behavioral Health and Justice.Īfter all, technology upgrades are "part and parcel of running a jail," he says. Macomb and Manistee counties used alternative funds to buy the devices. "So we had to hit the brakes" on the scanner. "Our county attorney read over parameters of the settlement's allowable expenses, and his opinion was that it would not qualify," says Sheriff Kyle Rosa of Benzie County. Others say their war on drugs failed and it's time to emphasize treatment and social services.īut at least three other counties came to a different decision. With fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, flooding the streets and more than 100,000 Americans dying of overdoses each year, some people argue that efforts to crack down on drug trafficking warrant law enforcement spending. Many communities are finding it difficult to thread that needle. ![]() The money shouldn't be spent on "things that have never really made a difference," like arresting low-level drug dealers or throwing people in jail when they need treatment, says Brandon del Pozo, who served as a police officer for 23 years and is currently an assistant professor at Brown University researching policing and public health.Īt the same time, he adds, "you can't just cut the police out of it. But if a new cruiser helps officers reach the scene of an overdose, does that count?Īnswers are being fleshed out in real time. Paving roads or building schools is out of the question. How is your community using settlement funds?ĭo you have concerns about how your state or locality is using funds from the opioid settlements? Or examples of successful uses of the funds? KFF Health News and NPR want to hear from you. This money - totaling more than $50 billion across 18 years - comes from national settlements with more than a dozen companies that made, sold, or distributed opioid painkillers, including Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, and Walmart, which were accused of fueling the epidemic that addicted and killed millions. In these cases and many others, state and local governments are turning to a new means to pay those bills: opioid settlement cash. And in other communities around the country, hundreds of thousands for vehicles, body scanners, and other equipment. $2,900 for surveillance cameras and to train officers and canines in New Lexington, Ohio. Policing expenses mount quickly: $25,000 for a law enforcement conference about fentanyl in Colorado $18,000 for technology to unlock cellphones in Southington, Conn. This draws criticism that the funds should be invested in treatment instead. States and counties nationwide are using opioid settlement funds for law enforcement efforts, including buying new squad cars.
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