West Deptford Township
West Deptford Township certified 106,420.24 of opioid settlement spending to the State as anti-opioid marketing at its schools, paid no school, spent the money on police community events, and has committed every open dollar to security cameras and poles.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- West Deptford Township told the State three years running that its settlement money went to anti-opioid marketing at the schools. No school appears as a payee on any opioid account in any year.
- The money paid for National Night Out catering and amusements, Chick-fil-A, LEAD T-shirts and bowling, Junior Police Academy shirts and giveaways. The same events ran on Municipal Alliance grants and police budget lines before 2024.
- The FY2026 report certifies 40,819.75 to the schools program. Twenty payment lines make that figure to the cent. National Night Out took 23,673.78 of it.
- Every dollar the Township had committed on the accounts at 08/19/2026, 122,899.95, is outdoor pan tilt zoom cameras and poles for security cameras.
- In July 2026 the Township took a police bowling outing it had already paid from the police line and journaled it onto the opioid account.
The FY2026 report says the program served 3,000 people. Its outcome measure reads "Our police monitor this."
Summary
West Deptford Township, Gloucester County, reports 292,124.14 in opioid settlement money received through 06/30/2026. The national settlements list uses for the money, among them treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction. The list is not exhaustive. Other documented, evidence-based programs that address the epidemic also qualify. In either case the money must supplement local spending, not replace it.
The Township holds the money in a dedicated series of accounts, G-02-41-0804. From 05/16/2024 to 08/19/2026 they paid 146,859.68. Another 122,899.95 was committed and unpaid at 08/19/2026.
| Payee | What the ledger describes | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Positive Promotions, Inc. | Giveaways, promotional items, National Night Out items, mini footballs, wristbands | 38,892.47 |
| J-Dogs Catering and Amusements | National Night Out, Project Graduation | 30,885.50 |
| Chick-fil-A | National Night Out, LEAD events, a high school senior event | 25,036.50 |
| Cross Brothers Apparel | LEAD T-shirts, hoodies, Safety Town polos, Punt Pass and Kick | 17,093.90 |
| Brooklawn Bowl Inc | LEAD bowling | 15,282.50 |
| MpoweredParent LLC | Student vaping and safe celebrations talks | 5,600.00 |
| Ferry Engraving Awards and Gifts | Junior Police Academy shirts and a plaque | 3,108.00 |
| Rolferry's | Junior Police Academy | 2,816.10 |
| 3 Monkeys | Impaired and distracted driving simulators | 2,815.61 |
| Amazon.com Services Inc. | Safety Town supplies and ride on toys | 2,504.82 |
| Reimbursement to an individual | Punt Pass and Kick | 972.50 |
| Minding Your Mind | Student event at the high school | 800.00 |
| Zallie Supermarkets Inc | Pre prom groceries and water | 551.78 |
| Maui Ice | Junior Police Academy | 300.00 |
| Atlas Flasher and Supply Co. Inc | Traffic cones | 200.00 |
| Total | 146,859.68 |
This project classes 127,190.87 as non-conforming, 13,268.81 as unverified and 6,400.00 as conforming. The conforming money is the two student prevention speakers, MpoweredParent and Minding Your Mind. Read the Township's findings.
The schools program
The FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports each certify one program, "Anti-Opioid marketing at our schools." Each names West Deptford Schools as the only recipient.
| Report | Certified to the program |
|---|---|
| FY2024 | 27,763.31 |
| FY2025 | 37,837.18 |
| FY2026 | 40,819.75 |
| Total | 106,420.24 |
The opioid accounts show no payment to the school district or to any school entity in any year. The dollars went to a promotional products vendor, an apparel vendor, a bowling alley, a catering and amusements company, a fast food chain, a traffic safety program and two student prevention speakers. The certified program does not exist in the books. The FY2024 and FY2025 reports are false. Told the State it went to the schools, which got nothing.
The FY2026 report says the program's purpose is to "Promote Anti-Drug at our K-12 Schools." Its administration answer reads "Most expenditures are for anti-drug campaign's in our 6 schools." The accounts paid twenty lines from 07/15/2025 to 06/17/2026. They total 40,819.75, the certified figure to the cent. None went to a school.
| Spending | Amount |
|---|---|
| National Night Out, catering and amusements, fast food catering and giveaway items | 23,673.78 |
| Junior Police Academy shirts, a plaque, an ice order and traffic cones | 3,508.00 |
| Project Graduation booking | 3,633.00 |
| Safety Town polos, supplies and ride on toys | 2,875.62 |
| LEAD T-shirts | 2,677.10 |
| Punt Pass and Kick apparel | 2,666.00 |
| Mini footballs | 1,415.30 |
| Wristbands | 370.95 |
| Total | 40,819.75 |
The report names a school recipient the books never paid, for a marketing program the books do not show. Certified 40,819.75 to the schools, no school was paid.
The cameras
On 04/16/2026 the Township opened purchase order 26-01296 to Gridless Power Corporation for outdoor pan tilt zoom cameras, 103,609.83 on one opioid account and 2,977.92 on another. On 07/13/2026 it opened purchase order 26-02331 to Green Family Industry Fence for 24,200.00 of poles for security cameras. On 08/03/2026 it cut the first camera line by 9,087.88 and added 1,200.08 of shipping to the second. The open figures sum to 122,899.95. That is every dollar committed on the accounts at 08/19/2026. None of it has been paid.
The 9,087.88 released on 08/03/2026 was followed on 08/19/2026 by 5,031.00 of Chick-fil-A catering and 420.08 of groceries from the same account.
The FY2026 report carries 106,587.75 as encumbered. That is the two camera lines as they stood at 06/30/2026, to the cent. The report's one program block does not mention cameras. No purchase order packet, resolution, contract or quote says what the cameras are for, and no overdose or prevention program that uses them is documented. Fixed surveillance cameras and the poles that carry them are not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Every committed dollar is surveillance cameras and poles.
The same events on a new account
The Township's vendor histories run from 01/01/2018 to 08/19/2026. From 2018 through 2023 they show the Township buying drug prevention giveaways, LEAD apparel, LEAD bowling parties, Junior Police Academy uniforms, Safety Town apparel and National Night Out catering and amusements from these vendors on Municipal Alliance grant accounts and police budget lines. From May 2024 the same purchases for the same events moved onto the opioid accounts and grew each year. 127,190.87 of the 146,859.68 paid sits in that category.
The Township kept paying the same vendors from ordinary accounts. It paid Positive Promotions 10,090.36 from the police community outreach line on 12/17/2024, between two opioid funded orders. Reading the sequence as settlement money replacing ordinary funding is an inference. The change in funding source is documentary. Moved the same vendors and events onto opioid money.
One move is on the ledger itself. On 05/20/2026 the Township paid the annual LEAD bowling outings, 4,125.00 and 1,237.50, from the police community outreach line on one check. On 07/13/2026 it journaled both lines, 5,362.50, onto the opioid account. Journaled a paid police bowling outing onto the account.
What West Deptford told the State
Each town with a direct share files an annual report with the Department of Human Services.
| Report | Certified spent | Paid from the accounts in the year | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2024 | 27,763.31 | 13,488.00 | 14,275.31 over |
| FY2025 | 37,837.18 | 70,101.65 | 32,264.47 under |
| FY2026 | 40,819.75 | 40,819.75 | 0.00 |
The FY2023 report names one program, Narcan, with no dollar figure. The accounts show no activity before 05/16/2024. Report and books agree.
The FY2024 figure, 27,763.31, is every payment from the first on 05/16/2024 through the check run of 07/22/2024. That run, 14,275.31, was paid after the year closed. Certified 14,275.31 more spent than the books show. The same report carries 9,816.25 as encumbered at 06/30/2024. That is three National Night Out orders paid on 08/21/2024. One of them, a 3,678.75 Chick-fil-A order, was first encumbered on 08/07/2024, five weeks after the year closed. Counted an order placed after the year closed as encumbered.
The FY2025 report certifies 37,837.18. The accounts paid 70,101.65 in that year. Books show 32,264.47 more spent than it certified.
FY2026
The FY2026 report covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It reports 46,688.83 received in the year and 292,124.14 received since 2022. Its spending figure, 40,819.75, ties to the books. The program it is certified to does not.
The report gives 61,126.99 as unspent and uncommitted on hand. That agrees with the books. The report's own figures give a different balance. The four reports certify 106,420.24 spent. 292,124.14 received less that and less 106,587.75 encumbered leaves 79,116.15. The 17,989.16 difference is FY2025 payments that no report counts. Those are the 70,101.65 paid in FY2025, less the 37,837.18 certified for it, less the 14,275.31 the FY2024 report had already counted.
The report says the decision on spending was made by the "CFO, Administrator, Police Chief, and Solicitor." It answers No to engaging the public, No to a strategic plan and No to a risk assessment. It gives the program's launch date as 07/01/2025 and its funding date as 06/01/2026.
What should happen
The accounts have paid 127,190.87 for police community events and giveaways that no listed use covers. The Township can restore that money to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program. It can reverse the 07/13/2026 journal of the bowling outing.
The camera orders are unpaid. The Township can cancel all 122,899.95 against the opioid accounts.
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller can examine the FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports and the records behind them.
The audit trail is here and the vendor histories are here. How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.