The city of St. Petersburg, Florida, is allocating $1 million from an opioid settlement to nonprofit organizations working to address the opioid crisis through treatment and recovery support services.

As part of the settlement, St. Petersburg will receive $6 million over 18 years.

The city is looking to fill resource or service gaps in the community and plans to use the money to offer grants for new and innovative proposals that are not already being funded by existing sources, the city said in a news release.

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Grants will be awarded to proposals that offer respite housing, overdose prevention, substance use prevention and education, harm reduction and peer support, with priority given to proposals that focus on respite housing, harm reduction and peer support.

"There's never enough help for addiction as rates continue to increase," Matthew Schaefer, the director of operations for Real Recovery Solutions, told Fox 13.

Real Recovery Solutions, which runs sober living facilities in Pinellas County and around the Tampa Bay region, is not eligible for the grant money but does work with non-profits that can use the funds to sponsor someone, the outlet reported.

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"[Non-profits] will fund maybe two to three weeks of sober living. And give that recovering addict a chance to go find a job and start paying their own rent," Schaefer said.

One of the biggest needs in the region, according to Schaefer, is making detox treatment more accessible and affordable. Many detox centers are privately funded and require full payment or insurance, but others have long wait lists to get a bed.

"[Addicts] are told, 'hey, you know, we're three to five days out from a bed.' There's a lack of resources for our underfunded or noninsured community. I think that that could be a big help. Unfortunately, that three to five days could really, truly be life or death," Schaefer said. 

Nonprofit groups were given until October 20 to apply for grant money through the city of St. Petersburg.

A police department in Texas may soon be using drones to respond to emergency calls, according to Police Chief Brian Jones.

The Bee Cave Police Department offered a demonstration of their autonomous drone system on Friday morning, known as "AV8."

The demonstration was part of a pilot project to test the AV8, which also consists of a computer system to keep drones on-target. Both are built by eve Vehicles, which is a start-up based in Austin.

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"Well, it's a force multiplier for us, really, because it serves as an eye in the sky and gives us real-time information before an officer even arrives at the location," said Bee Cave Chief of Police Brian Jones to FOX 7 Austin.

"We've gone through several generations," said eve Vehicles co-founder and CEO Roger Pecina to FOX 7 Austin. "We've been working on this specific concept for about two years."

Batteries for the drones, which are stored onboard, offer around 40 minutes' flight time.

"And when that drone's battery is running low, it'll actually call another drone in the network. They'll come and replace it," said Pecina to FOX 7 Austin. "And then this one goes to the closest nest to recharge its battery."

Routes for the drones are pre-programmed along local roads and highways to reach dispatch locations for emergency calls in the pilot program.

"So, the idea is that once they have the address, they do plug it into AV8 that does all of the calculation to see which drone is close to that call and autonomously leaves, and it goes to the scene without a pilot. It arrives when it's on scene that's when the pilot takes control and can move the drone around to get like better views of exactly what's being developed," said Pecina to FOX 7 Austin.

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From there, video is transmitted directly from the drone back to dispatch, where feed is sent to Bee Cave Police patrol cars and smartphones in real-time.

The AV8 system's first deployment may take place as soon as next week on limited emergency calls in Bee Cave, which is a suburb of Austin. However, the entire system is not expected to deploy for another month or two.

A future plan is already in the works with eve Vehicles to create a night vision option for the AV8 drones as well as a parachute safety system. The drones are launched from "Nests," which are open-air platforms.

Three launch sites, including two local schools, were chosen for the Bee Cave AV8 pilot program. The schools were selected before last Wednesday's mass shooting at Georgia's Apalachee High School.

"Say, for instance, the example that you use the school shooter in Georgia, heaven forbid, something like that, were to happen here," said Police Chief Brian Jones to FOX 7 Austin. "And we had the capabilities, this drone technology capability, we would have that information before the officers even arrive at the scene, so we can better prepare to engage a suspect."

"We could possibly know their location before the officers arrive, and we could better respond to that situation and possibly save lives," said Chief Jones to FOX 7 Austin.

There is no official start date for the Bee Cave AV8 pilot program.

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 The Bee Cave Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.