Barnstable County Sheriff's Office


“As the population of Barnstable County continues to age, we as public safety and law enforcement officials must develop cooperative strategies to keep our seniors safe. Our seniors come from a more trusting generation, and therefore are often the target of scam artists. The Triad program is one way we can all work together to keep Cape Cod safe for our senior citizens. Please join me in this partnership. Together we can make a difference.” - Sheriff James M. Cummings Download the TRIAD powerpoint presentation
Triad is a community partnership between seniors and senior service agencies, law enforcement, and public safety providers. The primary goal of the Triad concept is to reduce criminal activity targeted at seniors, and to enhance the delivery of law enforcement and public safety services to senior citizens. The Triad concept is implemented in each town through a S.A.L.T. Council. Local S.A.L.T. Council The S.A.L.T. Council (Seniors And Law enforcement Together) is comprised of representatives from the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office, the local police department, local council on aging, and members of the senior community. Many S.A.L.T. Councils also include representatives from the fire department, Visiting Nurses Association, Alzheimer’s Association, and other town agencies. The main focus of the S.A.L.T. Council is to act as an advisory group to service providers. The S.A.L.T. Council discusses, organizes and implements programs to benefit seniors. The local S.A.L.T. Council has senior leadership to determine the direction of Triad and is a forum to share information and resources.			Sheriff Cummings and District Attorney Michael O'Keefe help serve lunch to seniors at the annual Triad Summer Picnic/Concert
Barnstable County S.A.L.T. Council The Barnstable County S.A.L.T. Council includes representatives from each local S.A.L.T. Council as well as representatives from regional agencies such as the Office of the District Attorney, Elder Services, the Visiting Nurses Association, Alzheimer’s Services, Consumer Assistance Council, American Red Cross, and Cape Cod EMS. Sheriff Cummings convenes the County SALT Council quarterly to share information among towns and to assist the local Triads with program development. Sheriff Cummings also holds an annual Triad Conference and annual Triad Summer Picnic/Concert to thank the senior volunteers for their hard work.			Sheriff Cummings convenes the first Barnstable County S.A.L.T. Council with members from across Cape Cod
LOCAL TRIAD PROJECTS File for Life The File for Life is a red plastic magnetic file folder that attaches to your refrigerator. The file contains vitally important information about you to provide more accurate medical treatment, including:
Medications Allergies Medical Problems Blood Type Emergency Contacts Doctor’s Name
By participating in the File of Life program, you can be sure that this information is readily available in case of an emergency.
Neighborhood Watch Triads are working with their local police departments and neighborhood associations to create, or revitalize Neighborhood Crime Watch groups. Triad volunteers receive training based on the manual from the Massachusetts Neighborhood Crime Watch Commission. The volunteers then canvass neighborhoods to invite residents to an orientation meeting. The local police department assigns an officer as the Crime Watch Liaison. The liaison officer reviews crime statistics and works on solving neighborhood problems with the neighborhood group on a regular basis.			Mashpee Triad volunteers are trained by Caileen Fitzgerald of the Massachusetts Neighborhood Crime Watch Commission to start local neighborhood watch groups
911 Cellular Phones Some Cape Triads are collecting old cellular phones and servicing them to just dial 911. This means there is no monthly service fee and seniors can checkout a phone from the senior center or police department (like a library book). Remember…when you dial 911 on a cell phone you must know the location you are calling from. Currently, 911 calls on cellular phones are directed to the Massachusetts State Police and the street address in the dispatcher screen is that of the cellular tower receiving the call. Is your number up? Files for life and 911 calls are useless if police and fire personnel can’t find your home during an emergency. This is why some Triads are going out and properly numbering houses. With volunteers and donations, Triad members are targeting seniors at risk and neighborhoods with the greatest amount of unnumbered homes. Safe Return Program Safe Return is a nationwide identification, support and registration program operated by the Alzheimer's Association. Locally, the Alzheimer's Associaton is working in partnership with the Alzheimer's Services of Cape Cod & the Islands. Safe Return provides assistance 24 hrs. a day, seven days a week if a person becomes lost. If a registrant is missing, Safe Return will fax the person’s information and photo to the local law enforcement department, and can also get this critical information to police and hospitals in other areas of the state and country. Download the 2006 Safe Return Update Training powerpoint presentation NEW! MedicAlert & Safe Return program (click logo for more info) Neighborhood Reassurance Triads are working with neighborhood associations to implement the Are you Okay? Outreach program. The objective is to reassure the homebound and those that live alone that they are not alone. Participants make daily contact with neighborhood volunteers to let them know everything is okay.
For more information on these programs and how to become involved in your local TRIAD program contact: Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office TRIAD Program 6000 Sheriff's Place Bourne, MA 02532 508-563-4320 Email: Deputy Ted Theis at ttheis@bsheriff.net or Citizen Corps Director David Vieira at dvieira@bsheriff.net			Harwich S.A.L.T. Council
Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI) a program of the National Organization on Disability For additional EPI program information, please visit the EPI website at www.nod.org/emergency. If you need further assistance please address inquiries to EPI Director Hilary Styron at epi@nod.org.
Useful Triad Links:

RESOURCES: Cape Cod Emergency Preparedness Handbook Massachusetts Do Not Call List 911 Beacon Crimewatch Lamp Adapter Homeland Security Information distributed by the U.S Department of Homeland Security National Neighborhood Watch National Association of Town Watch National Crime Prevention Council Massachusetts Statewide Emergency Telecommunications Board (911 System) Disability Indicator form (downloadable PDF File) Instructions for the Disability Indicator form (downloadable PDF File) Massachusetts 911 Silent Call Procedure Partner Agencies with websites: Town of Barnstable TRIAD Town of Brewster TRIAD Office of District Attorney Michael O'Keefe Visiting Nurse Association of Cape Cod Elder Services of Cape Cod & the Islands Alzheimer's Services of Cape Cod & the Islands Consumer Assistance Council Cape & Islands EMS American Red Cross, Cape Cod Chapter National Association of Triads, Inc. AARP National Alzheimer's Association Massachusetts Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association
Cape Cod SALT Councils: Barnstable Bourne Chatham Dennis	Eastham Falmouth Harwich Mashpee	Sandwich Truro Wellfleet

Sheriff James M. Cummings
Barnstable County Sheriff's Office
6000 Sheriff's Place, Bourne, MA 02532
Phone: 508-563-4300 | Fax: 508-563-4574