Waterford Township
Waterford Township spent 10,000.00 of its opioid settlement fund on a police dog and certified the purchase to the State as a harm reduction program serving 10,500 people.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Waterford Township paid Voodoo K9 LLC 10,000.00 for a police dog on 03/12/2026. The purchase order has one line, "POLICE K9 DOG."
- The FY2026 report certifies the purchase as a Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention program named Purchase of K9. It reports 10,500 people served.
- The other 8,624.60 the Township has spent paid for a bounce house and police giveaways at National Night Out 2025. The report certifies them as Primary Prevention.
- The FY2026 report names the Police Department as the recipient of every dollar the Township has spent from the fund.
- The FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025 reports certify nothing spent. The books agree.
Summary
Waterford Township, Camden County, reported receiving 134,951.47 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026. The money may be spent only on opioid remediation. Exhibit E of the national settlements lists uses in treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction. The list is not closed, but a use it does not name needs a documented, evidence-based program.
The Township's settlement account, G-01-41-716-000-000, paid 18,624.60 from 08/14/2025 to 03/12/2026. It paid nothing else through 08/22/2026. Its balance on that date was 113,171.73.
| Purchase | Amount | How this project classifies it |
|---|---|---|
| Police dog, Voodoo K9 LLC | 10,000.00 | Not conforming |
| Police giveaways for National Night Out, Kaeser & Blair | 5,552.60 | Not conforming |
| Bounce house and inflatables for National Night Out, Empire Events | 3,072.00 | Not conforming |
| Paid through 08/22/2026 | 18,624.60 |
The police dog
Purchase order 26-00206, dated 02/18/2026, buys one item from Voodoo K9 LLC. The line reads "POLICE K9 DOG" at 10,000.00, charged to the Opioid Settlement Funds account. Check 3527 paid it on 03/12/2026. The Township's purchase history with the vendor from 01/01/2018 to 08/19/2026 holds this one order and nothing else.
The FY2026 report lists a new program named Purchase of K9 at 10,000.00 funded and spent. It names the Waterford Township Police Department as the recipient. It gives the launch date as 03/12/2026, the date of the check, and the duration as five years or more.
The report files the program under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention. It picks three Schedule B strategies, Connections to Care, Prevent Overdose Deaths and Other Harms (Harm Reduction), and First Responders. It reports 10,500 unduplicated individuals served, 75 services or encounters and 10 referrals to treatment. The Township paid for the dog 110 days before the reporting period closed.
The report describes the program as the acquisition, training and initial equipment of a K9 unit "dedicated to illicit opioid interdiction, drug diversion prevention, and community-based outreach." It says the primary impact is fewer illicit opioids in the township "through non-invasive detection at high-risk locations, traffic stops, and public facilities." It also calls the dog an entry point to diversion and an outreach tool at schools and community events.
The harm reduction uses Exhibit E lists include naloxone distribution and training, overdose education, syringe service programs and mobile harm reduction units. None is a police dog. Diversion programs are among the uses Exhibit E lists, but no diversion program using the dog is documented. No overdose or treatment program using it is documented either. Certified a police dog as harm reduction for 10,500 people.
National Night Out
The FY2026 report lists a second program, National Night Out, at 8,624.60 funded and spent. It names the Police Department as the recipient and files the program under Primary Prevention, Education, and Training. It gives 08/05/2025 as the launch date and says the event runs one day a year. It counts 500 people served.
The report describes the event as a way to deliver substance misuse education, lockboxes and drug disposal pouches. It calls bounce houses, games and giveaways "essential operational components" that draw families to the education booths.
The account paid two orders for the event. They make the certified figure to the cent.
| Order | Item | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Empire Events, order 25-00960, check 2626, 08/14/2025 | Bounce house and inflatables | 3,072.00 |
| Kaeser & Blair, order 25-00894, check 2779, 09/11/2025 | Football stress relievers | 762.22 |
| Tall golf tees | 432.16 | |
| Sunglasses | 1,217.00 | |
| LED silicone bike lights | 1,248.22 | |
| Stadium cups | 643.00 | |
| LED wristbands | 1,250.00 | |
| Total, the certified figure for National Night Out | 8,624.60 |
The Kaeser & Blair order is captioned "NNO POLICE GIVE-AWAYS." The account shows no purchase of lockboxes, disposal pouches or printed prevention material. No prevention program built on the rental or the merchandise is documented.
The Township has paid Empire Events before. Its purchase history with the vendor shows National Night Out inflatables for 4,031.10 in 2023, charged to the Police Public Relations appropriation. It shows a National Night Out dunk tank for 414.00 the same year, charged to the Adopt A Cop trust. In 2024 the Police Public Relations appropriation paid the vendor 2,862.00 for Halloween bounce houses. In 2025 the settlement account paid it 3,072.00 for the National Night Out bounce house. The record does not show whether the police appropriation was reduced when the settlement account took the cost over.
What the Township told the State
| Year | Received in the year | Certified spent | Paid from the account in the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023, through 06/30/2023 | 27,270.43 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2024 | 54,399.97 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2025 | 31,863.41 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2026 | 21,417.66 | 18,624.60 | 18,624.60 |
The FY2023 report says the Township had no strategic plan. Asked for its rationale for using the money, it answered "No Idea."
The FY2024 report says "There was turnover for finance and a plan had not been established until this year." It reports no funded programs and certifies nothing spent and nothing encumbered. The account's only entries in that year are the 01/01/2024 budget entries that first funded it.
The FY2025 report again certifies nothing spent and nothing encumbered, and no strategic plan. It says "We began in July for community outreach programs." The first orders on the account are the two National Night Out orders, first encumbered on 07/01/2025 and 07/07/2025. Both were encumbered and paid after 06/30/2025, so the FY2025 figures match the books.
The FY2026 report certifies 18,624.60 spent and 0.00 encumbered. Three payments make the spent figure to the cent, and no order was open at 06/30/2026. It says the Chief of Police and the Township Committee were involved in deciding how to spend the money. It reports no strategic plan yet.
The FY2026 report certifies 116,326.87 unspent on hand. That is its 134,951.47 of receipts since 2022 less the 18,624.60 spent. The account's balance on 06/30/2026 was 113,171.73. The 3,155.14 difference equals the certified receipts less the five budget entries that funded the account, 131,796.33. No revenue account is in the record, so the difference is not traced.
What should happen
The police dog cost the fund 10,000.00. The Township told the State it was harm reduction, and no overdose program using the dog is documented. The National Night Out rental and giveaways, 8,624.60, have no documented prevention program behind them. The Township can restore that money to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program.
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2026 report, who prepared it, and what records support it.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.