A small New Jersey town once hit hard by the opioid crisis reportedly spent more than $170,000 in addiction settlement funds on expensive police SUVs and surveillance cameras instead of drug prevention efforts.
Washington Township reported spending $170,446 on substance abuse initiatives in 2024 and 2025. However, the money was used to purchase 15 Flock surveillance cameras and two 2024 Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs, according to NJ.com.
“That’s absolutely egregious,” Sandy Gibson, an addiction specialist at The College of New Jersey, told the outlet.
“But I would hold the state accountable. We’re not auditing?”
Town records also show that officials did not spend any of the settlement money on drug abuse prevention programs in schools, despite that being one of the initiative’s stated purposes.
The spending is part of a broader and troubling pattern across New Jersey. An NJ.com investigation found that dozens of communities used at least $2.3 million in opioid settlement funds on lavish purchases, including concerts, branded clothing and even a muscle car.
Beginning in 2022, money from settlements with major pharmaceutical companies began flowing into municipal coffers. The agreements, totaling more than $50 billion, resolved thousands of lawsuits involving companies linked to the pharmaceutical supply chain and were intended to help communities recover from the devastating opioid epidemic.
The funds were designated for education, prevention and treatment. Yet some New Jersey towns instead used the money to upgrade streets and lighting or buy new municipal equipment.
Matthew Thomas Rooney, Washington Township’s solicitor, blamed the previous administration for the questionable spending.
“The current administration is committed to transparency, and it will continue to review all budgeting priorities, including the best ways to help combat the opioid crisis … and will continue to work with the state on the best path forward,” Rooney told the publication in a statement.
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“Nothing is more important to the current administration than keeping the people of Washington Township safe.”
At the height of the opioid crisis, Washington Township ranked among the 30% of New Jersey municipalities with the highest per-capita addiction rates. The township recorded 5.78 cases per 1,000 residents in 2019 and 5.36 cases per 1,000 in 2021.
Gibson said she was appalled by what she described as the township’s lack of action.
“I can’t see how there’s been no response or action taken to address that,” Gibson told NJ.com.
“Inaction at the level of the state is permission.”
The township said it spent $134,321 on a middle school “narcotics and education” program in 2024. It reported another $36,125 in 2025 for an initiative labeled “early prevention.”
“These folks … they’re responsible for our tax dollars,” resident Joe Junfola said.
“To the extent that they get grants, such as the opioid funds, they’re tasked with using that money responsibly.”
Former Mayor Laurie Burns, a Democrat, accused the town’s current Republican leadership of playing politics and attempting to “wash their hands” of the controversy.
“It’s a joke that the Washington Township’s Republican Mayor and Council would now try to wash their hands of decisions they made and point the finger elsewhere,” she wrote in an email.
“They did it, and they have a responsibility to answer for it now.”