GoKawiilOpioid settlement funds diverted to buy Flock license-plate cameras, Mother Jones finds
A Mother Jones investigation found 19 police agencies in ten states spent nearly $1 million of opioid settlement money on automatic license plate readers from companies like Flock and Axon. The funds were originally allocated to help communities devastated by the opioid crisis, but state distribution agencies instead routed portions to police departments, which pitched surveillance tech as a crime-fighting tool.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Opioid settlement dollars are finite and meant to fund treatment, prevention and recovery services in communities hit hardest by the crisis; diverting them to surveillance hardware means less money for addiction services. It also highlights how police departments can tap non-traditional funding streams to expand mass surveillance infrastructure with little public scrutiny or accountability.
- 19 police agencies across 10 states spent nearly $1 million in opioid settlement funds on license plate readers.
- The $50 billion opioid settlement pool is already stretched thin across 18 years and thousands of localities.
- Critics argue license plate cameras do little to address addiction and instead expand surveillance capabilities.
Source: futurism.com — Joe Wilkins, 2026-08-30
Published there as: “Instead of Using Opioid Settlement Money to Help Poor Communities, Police Are Buying Flock Cameras to Play With”
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