Here’s a potential new and “innovative” use of West Virginia’s opioid settlement funds: a license plate reader for the Ohio County Sheriff’s Department. That would pair well with the side-by-side utility vehicles and “covert cameras” provided to the Wheeling Police Department last year — also through grant funding.

Sheriff Nelson Croft this past week informed Ohio County commissioners that his agency is applying for grant funds through the West Virginia First Foundation — the group tasked with distributing the state’s $1 billion-plus opioid settlement — to outfit the department’s K-9 unit and also hire a peer support specialist that would provide support for those struggling with substance abuse and mental health issues. Those requests are potentially worthwhile proposals to help combat the opioid scourge.

But a third request — the purchase of a $56,000 license plate reader — raises this question: Just how does that purchase further opioid recovery efforts? It appears to be nothing more than an additional tool for law enforcement to gather personal data. What purpose does that serve?

It’s become clear over the past year that the state’s opioid settlement funds would be used less to help those impacted by the crisis or needing additional recovery options than it would be to further equip law enforcement in an attempt to arrest our way out of this scourge. That must end now.