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Cape Cod district attorney briefs Falmouth board on new child response team, anti‑trafficking training and fentanyl policy
Summary
District Attorney Rob Gallabo told the Select Board his office launched a Child Emergency Response Team (CERT), ran a statewide human‑trafficking conference, and has used a dangerousness statute in fentanyl cases; he reported year‑over‑year declines in overdoses but said causation cannot be claimed yet.
Rob Gallabo, district attorney for Cape Cod and the Islands, presented his office’s annual update and highlighted five initiatives his office is leading.
Gallabo described the newly launched Child Emergency Response Team (CERT), a coordinated effort among prosecutors, victim‑witness advocates, law enforcement and the Department of Children and Families to provide timely forensic interviews and support for child victims. “Since this launched about 6 weeks ago, Courtney has conducted two trainings here on the Cape. Each training had north of 60 attendees,” Gallabo said.
On human trafficking, Gallabo summarized a series of trainings funded by a roughly $100,000 Office of Grants and Research award and a subsequent $100,000 award to run a two‑day statewide conference in Hyannis with more than 200 registrants per day and multiple national and local speakers.
On fentanyl, Gallabo described a policy to seek detention without bail for those charged with trafficking fentanyl under Massachusetts’ dangerousness statute. He reported preliminary local data showing declines in overdoses: “In 2024, non‑fatal overdoses are down 25% from 2023 and fatal overdoses are down 35% from 2023,” but he cautioned the board that he could not draw a direct causal link between the policy and the statistics.
Gallabo also described a $250,000‑per‑year, four‑year award from Cape Cod Healthcare to hire a full‑time staffer to improve real‑time reporting into a SIMS database and expand coverage across the Cape and islands. Finally, he asked the board for letters of support for a proposed package to hire forensic examiners, prosecutors and victim‑witness assistants to address elder‑fraud investigations; the request totals about $580,000.
Gallabo said he would return next year with further updates and asked the board to consider supporting grant and budget requests with letters of support when requested.
