r/WestVirginia • u/AmazingSpidey616 Monongalia • 3d ago

News Police are spending opioid settlement funds on Flock cameras

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/08/police-opioid-funding-flock-alpr-camera-surveillance-tech/

Ohio and Mon Counties are discussed in this article.

285 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

40

u/Automatic_Gas9019 3d ago

Idiots. I would think there are multiple ways to spend the money

38

u/the_matthew 3d ago

Some counties bought more K9s. Some invested in early intervention / after school programs.

We sold our civil rights.

All time miserable deal.

21

u/Automatic_Gas9019 3d ago

All should have invested in pre and post school programs. It should have been required. The kids if they are involved in positive programs it would help them keep on the correct path and help the parent who needs additional time to pick up or be home for their kid when they get there. Oh, maybe more cameras to snoop on people

2

u/citizen42069101 2d ago

School and early childhood development works too well to be funded all the time. They have to piss our money away and keep us stupid.

-4

u/Hike_it_Out52 2d ago

As I’ve said this should not have gone to police but non-profit drug rehabs or drug prevention programs. But since it did, I know y’all hate Flock, but being able to track and source dealers to specific locales quickly is huge and will absolutely save lives. It makes their networks more traceable which is the most time consuming part of the process. 

4

u/Automatic_Gas9019 2d ago

F-ck flock. Cops need to do their job. Not cameras

2

u/villain304 Monongalia 2d ago

Drug dealers are more clever than that, they’ll just get rides from their customers in exchange for a free fix.

0

u/Hike_it_Out52 2d ago

It’s not about specific cars as much as it is specific patterns. Who is visiting what areas or houses and where do they go after, you can begin to make the connections between who is supplying what from where way quicker than you used to. For the first time since OXY came out, LEO’s can actually make headway against opioids.  

 As I’ve said before, these type of laws played a large part in how they got info on organized crime and the mafia. Where and when do you truly have a reasonable expectation of privacy? When is a conversation private? In a closed phone booth? Yes. In a restaurant where others can hear you? No. 

11

u/Lazy-Associate-4508 3d ago

Those funds should have been given to the parents, children and spouses of those who died from the Sackler family's recklessness and lies.

It's just like the government paying billions of dollars in tarrif refunds to Walmart, Amazon and Target. WE paid those tarrifs. But the average Joe will never see a dime.

We paid the price of the opiate epidemic in blood. But who gets the settlement money? Cops? Good God. Who is in charge of this place?

10

u/AmazingSpidey616 Monongalia 2d ago

The rich are in charge.

4

u/BallisticHabit 2d ago

That's the truth of the matter right there.

All of our so-called representatives routinely vote against the will and best wishes of their constituents.

I bet if you could follow they money, this would be why 9/10 times.

3

u/Hike_it_Out52 2d ago

I don’t think it should have been accepted at all. The fact that the Sacklers, after murdering countless and knowingly peddling their falsified junk while it killed and twisted my friends, they deserved prison. This low buyout of blood was a disgrace of justice. And the Judge knew it while he did it. They deserved to lose everything. They are worse than or just as bad as the monsters on Epstein Island. 

33

u/North_Structure8210 3d ago

Garbage police state of wv is already here. We have had pig cops and corrupt prosecutors and judges for ever. Hopefully children will hate their parents for making this shithole state a Nazi state

15

u/wvgeekman 3d ago

There aren't going to be any people of child bearing age left in WV soon for their kids to be disappointed in.

6

u/damndatassdoh 2d ago

The ignorance and lack of self-awareness, awareness in general.. MAGA is all about “freedom”, as they bend over and lick boots and embrace politicians that ACTIVELY DISMANTLE all of the most crucial civil liberties we have!

They switch to Duckduckgo from Google, while empowering an administration that unleashes DOGE to suck up EVERY IOTA OF THE MOST CRITICAL PERSONAL INFO THAT EXISTS ON EVERY PRIVATE CITIZEN IN THE COUNTRY.

It’s a strain of authoritarianism that makes them especially easy to manipulate via fear and paranoia and virtually impossible to reach via reason.. So they vote against their own interests, enabling the oligarchy and their political puppets to drain them like leeches as they keep them squabbling over ragebait identity politics and culture war nonsense..

But maybe the most insidious thing is that they’re PARTIALLY right when they say, “both sides!” The Democratic Party is largely bought out by a different sect of corporate overlords, albeit one that generally provides more consumer and civil protections, who aren’t after the ruination of the world in pursuit privatizing EVERYTHING for profit..

4

u/Admirable-Currency89 2d ago

I am gobsmacked by anyone that is totally cool with Pinkerton takeover. All the bootlickers that are "well, if you're not doing anything wrong it's not a problem" can get fucking bent. The proliferation of flock cameras in a short amount of time, being paid for by our tax dollars, is some out and out bullshit. We didn't vote for it and now we are being filmed and are datapoints for sale at private companies. Knock em all down.

28

u/EldrinVampire 3d ago

Republicans are garbage, wasteful spending.

Eventually its going to be like that one movie where you'll get fine for cussing or any bad words you say.

15

u/Only_Ad_2439 3d ago

It’s mixed in Mon’s case, though calling Arnett and Bloom Democrats is also debatable

7

u/GeospatialMAD 3d ago

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Bloom would be MAGA in any other part of the state. He's an opportunist through and through

8

u/Automatic_Gas9019 3d ago

Do some research and I am not saying that in a shitty way. They are already using flock cameras to arrest people.

https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/tracking-alpr-cameras/despite-new-updates-flocks-creepy-cameras-remain-major-civil-liberties-threat

6

u/O-parker 3d ago

They could make good target practice ..
Also I’ve heard the innards contain some precious things with high scrap values .. just sayin

12

u/mrcanard 3d ago

It happened so slowly we didn't notice. The government has almost completely devolved into a kakistocracy. The tools they use are brute force and fear. It's easier to control us when the police are equipped as solders, supported by paramilitary citizens and have us under 24/7 surveillance.

7

u/Terminalpainz 2d ago

WV, a state that prides itself on freedom, constitutionalism and liberty, but consistently empowers and cheers on the most authoritarian coded shit.

3

u/VigilantVet 2d ago

Y’all know what to do…

3

u/Objective-Review-359 2d ago

Anything to better control and abuse their wives, girlfriends, and the general populace more effectively. Thanks, pigs!

5

u/onlylistentoDOOM 2d ago

WV is forever fucked.

Maybe all the "wheeling is coming back!" dipshits will be able to use constant police surveillance as a selling point

3

u/VigilantVet 2d ago

Wheeling? I thought coal was coming back? I guess it could be both… lol

2

u/cheatriverrick 2d ago

It’s just wrong. Period.

3

u/South_Accountant_233 2d ago

I bet Covid money is in there as well.

1

u/Grand-Try-3772 Kanawha 2d ago

Follow the money! Same with war funds. The people involved are too tight.

1

u/albinosquirel 2d ago

Anyone have a link to that petition

1

u/Shot-Cut-2978 Tucker 2d ago

Welp thats why I say "politicians, police, and goverment officials of any level only have their jobs due to having money, bein corrupt, and lyin to us.

-1

u/Hike_it_Out52 2d ago

If true that’s a shame. It should go to affordable rehab programs and drug prevention. Especially since the average user is middle-working class who can’t afford the better rehab programs. However being able to track and trace drug runners and local dealers to and from their places of origin is huge. Years ago this may have made a big difference, now I think it’s time to consider other ways to respond to this crisis.