At least nine Nebraska counties and cities have used opioid settlement funds – money meant to be used to help the state and its residents recover from the opioid crisis – to buy controversial surveillance technology and other law enforcement tools. Harlan County’s board gave $15,000 to the county Sheriff’s Office for Flock cameras. Valley County spent $27,000 on nine Flock cameras of its own.

Police departments in Dakota County, Madison County and Thurston County purchased new police dogs, supplies and training.

The source of those funds: national settlements with manufacturers, pharmacies and distributors of opioids, totaling more than $50 billion. Nebraska has started receiving payments that will eventually add up to more than $150 million over 18 years.

The historic settlements are intended to address the opioid crisis by preventing further harm and providing services to people who are impacted by opioid use. But the Flatwater Free Press found a series of purchases by law enforcement agencies across Nebraska using settlement dollars that experts said don’t fit the spirit of the settlements.

Flatwater, in partnership with students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications, filed public records requests related to opioid settlement spending from all 93 Nebraska counties, along with 16 cities and six behavioral health regions.

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