Utah
Utah counties are spending opioid settlement cash on policing. Is that the best use?
The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with KUER and the Daily Herald.
Firearms, ballistic vests, breathalyzers, police vehicles, wages for law enforcement officers — these are some of the ways counties are using the money they received to combat the opioid crisis.
Utah counties have taken a combined $56 million from national legal settlements, with additional money expected in coming years.
Only a small portion of the money has been spent, but the uses are almost as diverse as the counties themselves, ranging from housing and wellness programs to treatment for inmates and Naloxone.
A handful of counties — namely Salt Lake, Utah and Sevier — have also prioritized some of their funds for law enforcement, according to public records obtained by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project.
Some experts worry pumping more money into traditional policing isn’t effective. Brandon del Pozo, a retired police chief and Brown University professor who studies the intersection of law enforcement and public health, said many of those traditional tactics have either not worked or made situations worse.
“To say we’re just going to do those things harder and with more funding might not be the best use of funds,” he said. “It definitely makes sense to invest in policing responses to the opioid crisis — but it’s not like if we just enforce that much harder or that much more vigorously or with that many more weapons or vehicles that we could have stopped this from happening.”
‘A really important role’
Law enforcement officers have been on the front lines of the opioid crisis for decades. They’re the first to respond to countless overdoses and are often tasked with handling the consequences of substance misuse.
Not all police responses to the opioid crisis, however, are created equal. Research suggests that some tactics have exacerbated the problem.
A 2023 study, for example, found police seizures were associated with an increase in overdoses in nearby areas. A Canadian study found that increased policing often discouraged those with addiction from accessing life-saving services like supervised consumption, also known as overdose prevention sites. Previous negative interactions with police can also discourage individuals from calling 911 in the case of an overdose. And a 2022 study from Penn State College of Medicine found that traditional policing was associated with a risk of future overdose deaths and did not reduce future arrests or jail time.
“Traditional criminal justice pathways of arrest, prosecution, and incarceration with enforced abstinence have not been effective in slowing the opioid epidemic,” reads the 2022 study.
Del Pozo stressed, though, that cutting out law enforcement entirely won’t solve the opioid crisis. Instead, it’s a matter of homing in on more effective tactics, like training officers on the science of addiction and creating bridges between the criminal justice system and treatment.
“Police in the United States have a really important role in the overdose crisis,” del Pozo said. “Treatment is a form of crime reduction. And as police grow to understand that, they see a lot of these alternatives to just ‘the business as usual’ policing as more feasible.”
Every interaction police have with someone experiencing addiction is a chance to link that person with treatment and recovery options, said del Pozo.
A holistic approach?
Officials in Salt Lake and Utah counties – the two largest in the state – opted to fund a variety of programs beyond law enforcement.
On the other hand, while Sevier County has spent just 18% of its settlement funds so far, all of that $72,000 has been allocated to the Sheriff’s Office. The county does not track the funds once they’ve been transferred into the sheriff’s budget, and Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis said he hadn’t previously tracked the funds in one place prior to a request from the Utah Investigative Journalism Project.
A spreadsheet Curtis compiled shows expenses between July 2023 and June 2024 mostly went to wages for deputies assigned to drug court and pretrial services, with smaller portions spent on training, Naloxone and drug testing supplies. Curtis noted the data “did not include the cost of any of the equipment the employees use as it is not as easily broken down.”
Salt Lake County has used its opioid money to award several grants for projects like expanding a recovery center, hiring a health data specialist to collect and analyze opioid-related data and kickstarting a substance use program for pregnant and postpartum mothers.
“We’re looking at the full spectrum,“ said Kelly Colopy, the county’s Human Services director.
The second largest of the grants the county approved went to fund two sheriff officer positions to work in partnership with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force. That grant was $780,000, or 18%, of the county’s approved settlement budget. The county also gave the Sheriff’s Office a smaller grant of $46,000 to expand treatment in the jail.
A letter of understanding for the county’s grant to fund DEA officers states their duties include providing agencies with technical assistance and training relating to opioid trends and overdose death investigations.
Colopy said the officers’ focus is not on cracking down on crime but on training, partnership building and regional coordination. Documents the county provided in response to a records request did not include any breakdown of how the grant money has been used, but Colopy said the grant only covers the officers’ salaries.
Although Utah County’s opioid overdose rate is lower than the state average, county administrator Ezra Nair said the impact is much larger than most people realize.
“Unfortunately, the needs are going to continue for the foreseeable future. This isn’t like, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll just pay you a billion dollars, and the opioid problem is gone,’” Nair said. “This is now completely integrated in our communities. It is a problem that affects all facets of our society and our county government.”
The county allocated nearly half of its settlement funds to Wasatch Behavioral Health — far more than any other department. Smaller portions went to the health department and to funding a nurse focused on opioid treatment in the jail. Previous reporting by The Investigative Project shows the county did not have medically-assisted treatment for opioid addiction using methadone available in the jail, although it did provide some medications to help with withdrawal. Methadone use is still limited in the jail, but county spokesperson Richard Piatt said the jail nurse can and does administer it.
Twelve percent of the county’s opioid spending went to the Sheriff’s Office. It was used to bolster the probation program, training, funding undercover positions and equipping officers with Naloxone, according to spokesperson Sgt. Raymond Ormond.
An analysis of the county’s opioid settlement records found the Sheriff’s Office spent $414,091 on officers’ wages and benefits, $186,245 on police vehicles, $24,672 on police equipment like ballistic vests, firearm optic sights and radios, $2,800 on uniforms and $2,568 on firearms.
Utah County officials said those purchases went directly to the officer positions funded by the settlement money and that any equipment replacements would come out of the county’s general fund.
“To be able to have those positions, we’ve got to have the equipment,” Ormond said. “Those positions are ones that are, especially our task force positions, are a dangerous position … that’s the unfortunate aspect of our job as law enforcement, is we do need those tools, that equipment and that training.”
Ormond understands where critics of traditional policing are coming from, especially as someone who’s seen both overdoses and opioid addictions firsthand among family members. It’s one of the reasons he got into law enforcement two decades ago.
“I wish there was a way that we could convince people to not use drugs, if the world didn’t need cops, I’d be all for it,” he said. “But (by) the same token, until we can get to that point as a community, we’re going to need law enforcement that’s going to have to try to combat the drugs.”
Del Pozo said while officers need to be prepared, more investment in policing misses the mark.
“The idea of using opioid settlement money to buy tactical gear and weapons doesn’t seem like it’s in the spirit of what’s going to reduce the overdose crisis in America,” he said.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Environmental Protection Agency awarded Utah and Salt Lake County a total of $3.5 million in grants to assess potentially polluted properties for eventual cleanup and redevelopment.
The agency announced a $2 million grant to Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality and $1.5 million to Salt Lake County to conduct environmental assessments and inventory brownfield sites for cleanup. Brownfields are sites that may be difficult to redevelop or expand because of “the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant,” according to the agency.
“These brownfields grants will help Utah communities clean up contaminated sites and unlock opportunities for redevelopment and investment,” EPA Regional Administrator Cyrus Western said in a news release announcing the grants earlier this week. “By transforming underused properties into community assets, EPA is helping create healthier neighborhoods and stronger local economies.”
The two grants awarded to Utah and Salt Lake County are among more than $248 million awarded to nearly 200 communities nationwide for brownfield assessment and cleanup. Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality plans to focus the resources on several areas in Ogden, Heber City and Fillmore, among others, according to Bill Rees, who leads Utah’s brownfield cleanup program.
“What we do is work to secure the funding and then begin to reach out to our communities across the state, say, ‘Listen, there’s opportunity to do some assessment work in your community if you’re interested,’ and then work with our rural partners, work with our urban partners to see if there are sites that will fit that bill,” he told KSL.
The state has received similar grants in the past, and Rees said the money can help local governments determine what to do with ailing properties such as old schools, hospitals or private property that have gone to waste.
“Is there asbestos in it, or is there hazardous material in it? Or could there be something that’s impacting the soil or the groundwater, and a policymaker needs to make a decision?” asked Rees. “Knowledge allows you to make good decisions.”
The $1.5 million awarded to Salt Lake County is the largest brownfields assessment grant the county has ever received, according to a county press release.
“This grant is a real win for our communities,” said Mayor Jenny Wilson. “This funding will let us do vital environmental work on a larger scale and in more neighborhoods. It reflects exactly the kind of partnership between local and federal government that gets results for residents.”
The county grant funds will be used to help create cleanup plans in three areas, including a vehicle storage yard in Salt Lake City’s Ballpark Neighborhood, a 4.26-acre vacant lot in Millcreek and a small commercial building in Magna that was damaged during an earthquake in March 2020, according to the EPA.
Contributing: Don Brinkherhoff
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City issued red flag warning Friday morning as emergency workers continued to battle one of the state’s largest wildfires in its history.
The red flag warning, issued when critical fire warnings are occurring or imminent, was to be in place through midnight Saturday.
“This is the FIRST Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warning issued in NWS Salt Lake City history. This is an exceptionally rare event,” the federal agency said in its warning.
A map of the area under the warning covered much of central and southwest Utah, with an area of the southwest, central and southern mountains also outlined as “particularly dangerous red flag.”
The particularly dangerous area includes the Cottonwood Fire, near the town of Beaver, which started Monday and had grown to covering almost nearly 71,000 acres by Thursday, 15 News reported. The fire forced evacuations.
The NWS warned that gusty winds and dry conditions would lead to rapid fire growth.
Utah also was dealing with the Iron Fire, which started June 19, and nearly destroyed the town of Eureka. The fire was about 27% contained Friday morning.
The fire danger led Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to issue executive order restricting fireworks statewide during the July 4 holiday, which marks the nation’s 250th birthday this year. The ban is in effect through July 5.
“Nothing about this decision was easy,” Cox said in a statement issued by his office Thursday.
“This is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory. We’re seeing fires spread farther and faster under conditions that defy historical expectations” Jamie Barnes, Utah state forester and director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, added in the statement.
Cox allowed cities and local communities to set aside areas where fireworks could be safely used. The city of Provo announced it would enforce a citywide prohibition on fireworks and would not designate a safe area for fireworks.
“This year is different,” Provo Mayor Marsha Judkins said in a statement. “The wildfire danger facing our community is real, and protecting lives, homes, and our natural spaces must come first.”
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Earlier this month, 2News Investigates brought you a former inmate’s federal lawsuit alleging Utah Department of Corrections leaders failed to address reports of alleged sexual assault by correctional officers. Now, 2News Investigates examines another key claim in that lawsuit.
MORE: Federal lawsuit alleges Utah prison leaders covered up guards’ sexual assaults on inmates
The lawsuit alleges a mass cross-gender strip-search operation – women being viewed by men was intended to further silence female inmates.
Federal law generally prohibits cross-gender strip searches of female inmates except during emergencies or when conducted by medical personnel. UDC says that during body-search procedures, male correctional officers are not allowed in the immediate area and inmate privacy is maintained. Former inmates say that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Three former inmates agreed to speak with 2News Investigates but asked that their identities not be revealed.
“It was very traumatic.”
According to the lawsuit, on May 13, 2025, UDC carried out a large-scale operation known as a “reset” in women’s housing units at the Utah State Correctional Facility (USCF) in Salt Lake City.
Wendy: “They call it a reset. What do you call it?”
“A violation.”
“It’s like a rape.”
The lawsuit alleges UDC Deputy Warden Derick Zorn and Warden Sharon D’Amico directed the operation, along with more than a dozen members of the Critical Incident Response Team, or CIRT.
According to the plaintiffs, officers stormed dormitories, shouted profanities, and issued conflicting commands.
The women say and the lawsuit states they were ordered to pack their belongings into totes and change into state-issued uniforms in front of male CIRT officers. They were then marched to the Emerald Building for processing.
“It felt almost like we were at a concentration camp.”
The lawsuit alleges the women were required to undergo body scans and then strip completely naked. Plaintiffs claim they were ordered to lift their breasts, spread their buttocks, and cough while visible to male staff.
Women who were menstruating allegedly were instructed to remove menstrual products in full view of others.
“Just use one hand to remove it. Hold it up in front of you.”
“I felt really small and worthless.”
The lawsuit alleges some women were forced to hold soiled menstrual pads while performing physical maneuvers.
“I just did what I was told. I just wanted to get it over with.”
The plaintiffs also claim they were required to sit on toilets or squat to provide urine samples while completely naked and visible to male officers.
“It was humiliating. It was degrading.”
The lawsuit further alleges cell doors were left open, exposing naked women to other inmates and male staff.
An overhead observation booth with reflective glass overlooked the strip-search area. Plaintiffs say they observed movement inside and believed they were being watched from above.
The lawsuit alleges the female inmates were being watched from above during a mass strip search on May 13, 2025
“I could see in the overhead, the two-way mirror. There were multiple men walking around up there who had direct vision inside those cells.”
The lawsuit alleges Captain Jared Beers and Lieutenant Matthew Coombs were inside the booth and that Deputy Warden Derick Zorn observed women in various states of undress.
“I made eye contact with Officer Arroyo, and I also saw Deputy Zorn.”
“I knew if I could see the male officers, they could see me.”
One former inmate described the experience as state-sanctioned sexual violence.
“When that happens, and you’ve gone through the same kind of thing as a child, it’s very traumatic.”
The lawsuit alleges Warden D’Amico knew male officers were viewing naked female inmates and “ratified, condoned, and failed to stop it.”
An allegation in the lawsuit filed on May 15, 2026
“You’re pretty much a hostage.”
UDC Executive Director Jared Garcia declined repeated requests for an on-camera interview. A letter sent said:
“During the body search process in female living areas, male correctional officers are not allowed in the immediate area, and privacy is maintained. In general, resets are conducted routinely, according to UDC policy and under strict protocols designed to ensure safety while also preserving the privacy and dignity of incarcerated individuals.”
“The manner matters.”
Walter Mason represents the plaintiffs.
He told 2News Investigates, “The law protects inmates from being exposed to members of the opposite sex viewing their naked bodies unless there’s an emergency. Unless there’s what the law calls an exigent circumstance, the prison can take necessary actions to protect safety. There was no emergency. There was no exigency.”
UDC says the reset involved approximately 150 trained staff members and was conducted according to department policy.
UDC’s letter goes on to say:
“Every effort was made to treat belongings with care and document confiscated items appropriately. UDC stands by our methods and policies, which are intended to maintain the highest standards of integrity, safety, and efficiency during the reset process.”
Written response from the Utah Department of Corrections regarding 2News investigations
I asked UDC whether any exigent circumstances existed on May 13, 2025, during the reset operation.
The response:
“No exigent circumstances occurred on May 13, 2025.”
I also requested information about what items were confiscated. UDC said it could not provide a specific list.
Response to questions posed by 2News Investigates to UDC regarding mass strip search and if exigent circumstances existed that day
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and accuses the defendants, all supervisors, of participating in a “coordinated effort to humiliate, mock, and psychologically degrade the plaintiffs … operating with a brazen and intentional disregard for clearly established law, fueled by an institutional custom of impunity.”
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