Cranford Township
- 01Certified license plate cameras as a diversion program24,100.00
- 02Certified a breath alcohol tester as peer recovery support22,822.50
- 03Reported a check paid after year end as FY2025 spending22,822.50
- 04Certified a third year of Flock cameras as LEAD diversion10,318.00
What the reports say,
and what the books show.
Cranford Township has received $136,495.88 in opioid settlement funds and spent $82,629.76 of it. Its largest single year difference between the report and the books is $23,749.70.
The money, four ways.
Four figures describe the same settlement money. Each one comes from a different document.
Certified against the books,
every report year.
Every year this jurisdiction has filed, and the year it has not. The match on each row is computed from the rows, not judged.
filed
- Programs listed
- none
- Amount expended
- $0.00
- Received to date
- $28,778.85
filed
- Program name
- Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion - Pharmacy Fraud
- Recipient
- Cranford Police Department
- Recipient category
- First Responders, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Services
- Amount expended
- $9,450.00
- Unspent on hand
- $76,737.90
- Received to date
- $75,605.67
filed
- Program name
- Connect to Peer Recovery Support - Tools for Drug Recognition Support
- Recipient
- Cranford Police Department
- Recipient category
- First Responders, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Services
- Programs listed
- 5
- Amount expended
- $56,184.27
- Unspent on hand
- $40,700.94
- Received to date
- $113,703.87
filed
- Program name
- Helping Hands 365 Mobilization
- Recipient
- Cranford Police Department
- Recipient category
- First Responders, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Services; Hospital/Healthcare Provider (including Mental Health or Substance Use Treatment Provider)
- Programs listed
- 3
- Amount expended
- $15,167.45
- Unspent on hand
- $64,245.12
- Received to date
- $136,495.88
11 findings.
Every finding is verified to the documents in its own row. An inference is labelled as one.
Red with the marker: a certified figure the books contradict.
The FY2024 report certifies one program, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion - Pharmacy Fraud, recipient Cranford Police Department, primary category Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, funded and launched 2/28/2024, at 9,450.00 expended.
Its statement of impact begins By utilizing ALPR systems. Flock Safety purchase order 24-00540 was encumbered on 02/28/2024 and paid by check 65376 on 05/22/2024. It buys a Flock Safety Falcon ALPR at 9,000.00 and an implementation fee at 450.00, the certified figure to the cent. The FY2025 report certifies a program of the same name at 14,650.00. Flock purchase order 25-00687, paid by check 67571 on 03/26/2025, is Flock Safety 2025 at 14,000.00 and Flock Safety Pro Services at 650.00, again the certified figure to the cent. The Flock order form for that year lists four license plate reader cameras. It describes license plate recognition with real-time alerts, alerts on vehicles in the NCIC and NCMEC databases, and custom hot lists for a suspect's plate. The words opioid, overdose, treatment and diversion do not appear in it. The one performance indicator in the FY2024 report is Reduction in opioid-related incidents: 10. No record in the file shows anyone referred to treatment or diverted from arrest through the cameras. Law enforcement assisted diversion is a listed use. License plate cameras are not among the uses Exhibit E lists.
false-characterization · 5 documents · 09/25/2026The FY2025 report certifies a program named Connect to Peer Recovery Support - Tools for Drug Recognition Support at 22,822.50 expended, recipient Cranford Police Department, primary category Diversionary and Re-entry Support.
It describes on call peer recovery coverage through the Union County Helping Hands 365 initiative and says the local non-profit Prevention Links will implement the program. The 22,822.50 is Draeger purchase order 24-01755, five lines for a Draeger Alcotest 9510 system, a 10 year item, dry gas, a component and a UPS Pro. The settlement accounts show no payment to Prevention Links or to any peer recovery provider. The report's performance indicator is Number of referrals to treatment: 0. The report says the Alcotest is used to show a zero alcohol reading before a police drug recognition evaluation. It gives the funding date as 08/26/2024 and the launch date as 08/26/2025. No peer recovery program paid from the account is documented. Breath alcohol instruments are not among the uses Exhibit E lists.
false-characterization · 3 documents · 09/25/2026The FY2025 report certifies 56,184.27 expended in the reporting period 7/1/2024 to 6/30/2025 and 0.00 appropriated or encumbered but not yet spent.
The settlement accounts paid 33,361.77 in that period. Zschool was paid 12,150.00 and Flock Safety 14,650.00 on 03/26/2025. The Black Poster Project and Dance Boss LLC were paid 1,500.00 each on 05/21/2025. Payroll of 2,587.37 posted on 03/14/2025 and 974.40 on 05/09/2025. The other 22,822.50 of the certified figure is Draeger purchase order 24-01755 for an Alcotest 9510 system. The order was encumbered on 09/04/2024 and paid by check 68293 on 07/09/2025, nine days after the period closed. On 06/30/2025 it was open on the account. The same report certifies nothing encumbered. It gives the program's launch date as 08/26/2025.
misreported-expenditure · 3 documents · 09/25/2026The FY2026 report certifies Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion - Pharmacy Fraud at 10,318.00 funded and spent, recipient Cranford Police Department, primary category Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, funded and launched 05/05/2026, 25 individuals served, on pages 5 to 7.
Its intended impact reads By utilizing ALPR system. Its procurement answer says the Township identified credible vendors for ALPR systems. Its goals answer, on page 3, describes ALPR systems at chokepoints near pharmacies. Flock Safety purchase order 26-00958, check 70268 on 05/20/2026, is Flock Safety LPR fka Falcon at 12,000.00 and three years of extended data retention at 2,000.00, less a 3,682.00 credit. That is 10,318.00, the certified figure to the cent. The FY2024 and FY2025 reports certified the earlier Flock payments under the same name. No record in the file shows anyone referred to treatment or diverted from arrest through the cameras. Law enforcement assisted diversion is a listed use. License plate cameras are not among the uses Exhibit E lists.
false-characterization · 4 documents · 10/03/2026The FY2025 report certifies a Pop-Up Mobile Drug Take Back Program at 3,561.77 expended, recipient Cranford Police Department, primary category Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, funded and launched 03/14/2025.
It says funding was mainly for police overtime to staff pop-up disposal locations at senior housing centers and outside retail pharmacies. Two payroll postings on account G-01-41-700-162-281 make the figure to the cent, 2,587.37 on 03/14/2025 and 974.40 on 05/09/2025. No vendor, container or disposal cost is part of it. The Police Department Overtime Activity report behind the 2,587.37 lists six Detective Bureau overtime shifts of 4.50 hours from 02/24/2025 to 02/28/2025, each with the reason OT OPIOID FUND. Two are marked Medicine Box Detail, two Prescription Med Drop Detail and two Fraud Presentation. At the handwritten rate of 92.72 an hour the two Fraud Presentation shifts come to 834.48. The 974.40 is pay for two employees on 05/09/2025. No record states what that work was. The shifts were worked before the 03/14/2025 launch date the report gives, which is the date the payroll posted. Drug take-back is a listed use. A fraud presentation is not among the uses Exhibit E lists.
false-characterization · 4 documents · 09/25/2026Resolution 2023-256, adopted 08/08/2023, authorizes a Flock Safety automated license plate recognition contract not to exceed 90,900 and charges it to accounts C-04-23-006-000-206 and T-15-00-000-141-000.
It gives the purpose as police investigations of automobile thefts, automobile burglaries, residential burglaries and other indictable crimes. It does not mention opioids. Flock quotes Q-31583 and Q-31657, both created 04/20/2023, cover six Falcon cameras on 60 month terms with contract totals of 75,750.00 and 15,150.00. The Township's Flock vendor history shows 90,900.00 paid on 10/25/2023, 88,195.00 from Ord 23-06 Police: Auto Lic Plate Reader and 2,705.00 from POLICE DONATIONS. Every Flock payment after that was charged to the National Opioids Settlement account. That is 9,450.00 on 05/22/2024, 14,650.00 on 03/26/2025 and 10,318.00 net of a 3,682.00 credit on 05/20/2026, 34,418.00 in all. The FY2026 report, published 10/01/2026, certifies the 2026 payment as Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion - Pharmacy Fraud, as the two earlier reports did for theirs. The budget detail for both accounts, printed 09/18/2026, shows the capital ordinance authorized at 88,195.00 and spent to 0.00 by the two Flock lines on 10/25/2023. The POLICE DONATIONS trust took in 303,075.00 from 05/16/2023 to 08/06/2024, 300,000.00 of it in four Hintz Family Fund donations. One receipt of 1,000.00 on 09/22/2023 is described as DIFABIO CONSTRUCTION-FLOCK CAMERA EXPANS. The trust balance was 130,258.10 when the settlement account paid Flock on 05/22/2024, 132,160.32 on 03/26/2025 and 86,818.63 on 05/20/2026. In those years the trust paid for other police technology, including a Cellebrite subscription renewal of 7,400.00 on 10/08/2025 and an Axon interview room camera system of 8,935.55 on 06/09/2026. The Police Department other expense audit trails for 2019 to 2026 show the police budget paid Reconyx for a camera and an ALPR unit in 2019 and 2020, 1,565.29 net, and paid Faraone Brothers 350.00 for Flock Camera Electrical Work on 09/20/2023. No Flock payment appears on those lines. That the settlement money paid for a police camera program the Township would otherwise have funded itself is this project's inference from these records.
supplantation · 11 documents · 10/03/2026The Township's Draeger vendor history runs from 01/17/2018 to 03/11/2026.
Every Alcotest certification, calibration, simulator, probe, hose, solution and dry gas charge in it was paid from police or communications lines of the current fund, 5,154.75 in all. That includes Alcotest 7110 simulator and temperature items paid on 05/22/2024 and a dry gas order paid on 03/11/2026. The Police Department other expense audit trails for budget years 2019 to 2026 carry 3,218.50 of those charges, in every budget year but 2025, and tie to the vendor history to the cent. The rest is 2018 police lines and communications lines. The only Draeger purchase charged to the settlement account is the Alcotest 9510 system on purchase order 24-01755, 22,822.50. The breath testing program ran on the police budget before the settlement paid for its new instrument and kept running there after. The records do not say whether the 9510 replaced the 7110 or which budget would have bought it. That the settlement money took over a cost the police budget carried is this project's inference from these records.
supplantation · 5 documents · 09/30/2026Through 07/10/2026 the Township charged 10,239.26 of payroll to its settlement payroll accounts, 9,312.06 to G-01-41-700-162-281 and 927.20 to G-01-41-700-165-281.
A payroll allocation register for code 439200, National Opioids Grant, lists 16 payments to 15 named employees from 05/09/2025 to 07/10/2026, totaling 7,651.89. With the 2,587.37 of Detective Bureau overtime posted on 03/14/2025, that is 10,239.26. Only the overtime report states what any of the work was. The register states no department, activity or program. Three names on the register also appear on the Police Department overtime report. The FY2025 report accounts for 3,561.77 of the payroll as its take-back program. Another 5,776.65 posted from 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026, in the FY2026 report year, and 900.84 posted on 07/10/2026. The FY2026 report, published 10/01/2026, certifies two programs with recipient Cranford Police Department and no vendor. One is a Pop-Up Mobile Drug Take Back Program at 1,845.61, which the report says was funded mainly for police overtime. The other is Helping Hands 365 Mobilization at 3,003.84, the amount of the 06/26/2026 posting.
undocumented-spending · 6 documents · 10/03/2026The Flock Safety Exhibit A Order Form for four license plate reader cameras, contract total 14,650.00, is signed for the customer by the Captain of Police and dated 3/10/25.
The Flock signature block is blank. The purchase order number written on the form is 25-00613. The ledger paid the order on purchase order 25-00687, encumbered 03/14/2025, check 67571 on 03/26/2025. The form renews automatically each year unless either party gives notice. The only Flock resolution in the produced records is 2023-256, which authorized 90,900 and was paid in full on 10/25/2023. No resolution authorizing the 2024, 2025 or 2026 Flock purchases is in the produced records. The FY2024 and FY2025 reports say the procurement included Township resolution adoption at a public meeting.
authorization-gap · 5 documents · 09/25/2026The FY2024 report certifies 75,605.67 received since the distribution began in 2022 and 9,450.00 expended in the period.
The FY2023 report certifies 0.00 expended. The FY2024 report then certifies 76,737.90 of unspent money on hand. That is 1,132.23 more than the Township says it ever received, before any spending. Receipts less spending through 06/30/2024 is 66,155.67. The FY2025 report certifies 113,703.87 received through 06/30/2025 and 56,184.27 expended in the period. With the 9,450.00 of FY2024 that leaves 48,069.60. It certifies 40,700.94 on hand, 7,368.66 less. No revenue ledger has been produced to test either figure.
self-contradiction · 3 documents · 09/25/2026The FY2025 report certifies Seton Hall Opioid Operational Readiness for First Responders at 12,150.00 expended, recipient Cranford Police and Fire Departments, primary category Primary Prevention, Education, and Training.
It describes a four hour, self-paced course on Opioid Use Disorder and co-occurring conditions, de-escalation and connecting people to needed resources, and reports 27 training sessions. Zschool, LLC purchase order 25-00622, described as Opiod Operational Readiness, was paid by check 67642 on 03/26/2025 in two lines of 4,500.00 and 7,650.00. That is the certified figure to the cent. The Township's vendor history shows no other payment to Zschool from any fund since 2018. Training first responders on opioid use disorder is a listed use.
conforming-spending · 3 documents · 09/25/2026Patterns this jurisdiction appears in: Funding-source substitution · Police vehicles and gear · Surveillance technology
The ledger, as printed.
Account G-01-41-700-162-280, as printed from the jurisdiction's own accounting system. Classification follows the Exhibit E gates.
| Date | Check | PO | Payee and description | Amount | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/22/2024 | 65376 | 24-00540 | Flock Safety · Flock Safety Falcon ALPR | 9,000.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 05/22/2024 | 65376 | 24-00540 | Flock Safety · Implementation Fee | 450.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 03/14/2025 | National Opioids Settlement-Payroll | 2,587.37 | Paid · Unverified | ||
| 03/26/2025 | 67571 | 25-00687 | Flock Safety · Flock Safety Pro Services | 650.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 03/26/2025 | 67571 | 25-00687 | Flock Safety · Flock Safety 2025 | 14,000.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 03/26/2025 | 67642 | 25-00622 | Zschool, LLC · Opiod Operational Readiness | 7,650.00 | Paid · Conforming |
| 03/26/2025 | 67642 | 25-00622 | Zschool, LLC · Opiod Operational Readiness | 4,500.00 | Paid · Conforming |
| 05/09/2025 | National Opioids Settlement-Payroll | 974.40 | Paid · Unverified | ||
| 05/21/2025 | 67917 | 25-01009 | The Black Poster Project · CHS Program - Posters | 1,500.00 | Paid · Conforming |
| 05/21/2025 | 67933 | 25-01014 | Dance Boss LLC · CHS Assembly - Warrior Spirit | 1,500.00 | Paid · Unverified |
| 07/09/2025 | 68293 | 24-01755 | Draeger Inc. · Draeger Alcotest 9510- | 174.50 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 07/09/2025 | 68293 | 24-01755 | Draeger Inc. · DRAEGER ALCOTEST 9510 SYSTEM | 17,900.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 07/09/2025 | 68293 | 24-01755 | Draeger Inc. · Draeger Alcotest 9510- 10 Year | 3,968.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 07/09/2025 | 68293 | 24-01755 | Draeger Inc. · Draeger Alcotest 9510- Dry Gas | 400.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 07/09/2025 | 68293 | 24-01755 | Draeger Inc. · Draeger Alcotest 9510- UPS Pro | 380.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 11/07/2025 | National Opioids Settlement-Payroll | 927.20 | Paid · Unverified | ||
| 03/06/2026 | National Opioids Settlement-Payroll | 918.41 | Paid · Unverified | ||
| 05/15/2026 | National Opioids Settlement-Payroll #10 | 927.20 | Journal · Unverified | ||
| 05/18/2026 | Payroll #10 Correction | 927.20 | Journal · Unverified | ||
| 05/18/2026 | Payroll #10 Correction | 927.20 | Journal · Unverified | ||
| 05/18/2026 | Payroll #10 Correction | 927.20 | Journal · Unverified | ||
| 05/18/2026 | Payroll #10 Correction | 927.20 | Journal · Unverified | ||
| 05/18/2026 | Payroll #10 Correction | 927.20 | Journal · Unverified | ||
| 05/18/2026 | Payroll #10 Correction | 927.20 | Paid · Unverified | ||
| 05/20/2026 | 70268 | 26-00958 | Flock Safety · Extended Data Retention - 3 yr | 2,000.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 05/20/2026 | 70268 | 26-00958 | Flock Safety · Flock Safety LPR fka Falcon | 12,000.00 | Paid · Non-conforming |
| 05/20/2026 | 70268 | 26-00958 | Flock Safety · Credit | -3,682.00 | Reversal · Non-conforming |
| 06/26/2026 | National Opioids Grant - Payroll #13 | 3,003.84 | Paid · Unverified | ||
| 07/10/2026 | National Opioids Grant - Payroll #14 | 900.84 | Paid · Unverified | ||
| Total paid | 86,311.76 | ||||
| Conforming abatement spending | 13,650.00 |
Vendors, and what paid them before.
What fund carried each payee before the opioid account, and how large the opioid slice is against the whole relationship. Bars share one scale.
Full width is $34,418.00, the largest payee total. Solid is the opioid account. Hatched is every other fund.
All documents are public records produced by the jurisdiction. Titles are the documents' own.
No dated event is published for this jurisdiction yet.
No correction received from this jurisdiction. If a figure on this page is wrong, send the record that shows it. The response is published here word for word.
Correct the recordCan opioid settlement money be spent on police cars or license plate readers?
No. Exhibit E of the national settlement lists the approved uses: treatment, recovery, prevention, harm reduction and related supports. Vehicles and surveillance hardware are not among the uses it lists, and state law bars using the funds to replace money a town would otherwise have spent.The approved uses
What did Cranford Township tell the State it spent the money on?
It certified 9 programs to the Department of Human Services. Each program, its recipient and its amount are reproduced above, beside the payments in the account.See the reports
How was this grade computed?
By code, from a published rubric: reporting integrity 50 percent, spending conformity 40 percent, transparency 10 percent, with hard caps for a certified program that has no payee in the books, for an uncertified transfer out, and for a records refusal.The rubric
Articles about this town
Cranford Township
Cranford Township certified Flock license plate cameras to the State as a diversion program, certified a breath alcohol tester as peer recovery support, and counted a check paid after year end as FY2025 spending.