Law enforcement eyes opioid settlement cash for squad cars and body scanners

States and counties nationwide are using opioid settlement funds for law enforcement efforts, including buying new squad cars. This draws criticism that the funds should be invested in treatment instead. (Douglas Sacha/Getty Images)

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.; $2,900 for surveillance cameras and to train officers and canines in New Lexington, Ohio. And in other communities around the country, hundreds of thousands for vehicles, body scanners, and other equipment.

In these cases and many others, state and local governments are turning to a new means to pay those bills: opioid settlement cash.