Cape and Islands District Attorney details new child‑protection team, trafficking work, fentanyl policy and data, and $1M SIMS grant

Cape and Islands District Attorney Rob Galloway briefed the Barnstable County Board of Commissioners on May 7 on a set of public‑safety initiatives, including a new Child Emergency Response Team, statewide human‑trafficking training, a fentanyl trafficking bail policy tied to local overdose data, a $1 million grant from Cape Cod Healthcare to expand the SIMS incident‑management database, and a request to state budget leaders for roughly $580,000 to combat elder fraud.

Galloway said the Child Emergency Response Team — CERT — is led by Courtney Scalise, chief of the office’s child protection unit, and brings prosecutors, victim‑witness staff, law enforcement, the region’s Children’s Cove forensic interview center and the Department of Children and Families together. “Whenever law enforcement or any one of the members of that team become aware of a child being a victim of either physical abuse or sexual abuse, the team…is notified,” Galloway said, adding the team aims to speed investigations and coordinate services for victims and families.

The district attorney described a multi‑year human‑trafficking effort that began with regional trainings funded by the Office of Grant and Research and expanded into an April two‑day conference held in Hyannis that drew more than 200 attendees each day and 38 speakers from around the country. Galloway singled out local presenters including Detective Katie Peracci and speakers from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Boston Police Department.

On fentanyl enforcement, Galloway recounted a policy he launched upon taking office in January 2023 to seek detention without bail under the state “dangerousness” statute for people charged with trafficking fentanyl. He reported county‑level data showing reductions in overdoses after the policy took effect: a 10% drop in nonfatal overdoses and 7% drop in fatal overdoses in 2023 compared with 2022, and further declines in 2024 (25% fewer nonfatal and 35% fewer fatal overdoses compared with 2023). Galloway cautioned that multiple factors — including greater Narcan availability — affect those figures and said he would not draw a definitive causal link from the policy alone.

Galloway also described negotiations with Cape Cod Healthcare and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health that produced a $1,000,000 award — $250,000 per year for four years — to expand the SIMS (Critical Incident Management) database across the Cape and Islands. The grant will fund a full‑time staffer to help departments enter incident data more promptly and expand SIMS to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, where Galloway said current participation is limited.

Finally, Galloway outlined a proposed package to address a surge in elder‑fraud reports. He said Barnstable police handled 397 calls for elder fraud in 2023, producing investigative reports on 257 cases but criminal charges in just 13 cases, and described a proposal to hire two forensic examiners (retired certified public accountants), two prosecutors and two victim‑witness assistants at a total package cost of about $580,000. Galloway said he has gathered letters of support from local police chiefs and councils on aging and was seeking the commissioners’ help to ask the state delegation to file an amendment seeking funding in the Senate budget.

Commissioners thanked Galloway for the update and discussed next steps, including the commission sending letters of support and hosting a possible summit to coordinate advocacy. Galloway said he would send the commissioners the proposal and supporting numbers for their consideration.

Galloway’s presentation combined program updates, grant awards and a funding request; commissioners framed possible county support as letters and advocacy rather than a direct county appropriation at this time.