BOURNE – Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings penned a public letter on Thursday announcing he will retire next year after 24 years at the helm:
“I am writing to announce that I will not be seeking a fifth term as the Sheriff of Barnstable County.
At the end of my current term I will have served twenty-four years as the Sheriff of Barnstable County. This, coupled with my twenty-three years with the Massachusetts State Police, twenty-one of which were spent with the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, gives me forty-seven years of public service in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If I throw in a summer as a Falmouth Police Officer and two years active duty in the Navy, my public service totals 50 years. It’s time to retire.
I have been very fortunate to have had two great careers; one with the Massachusetts State Police and then as the Barnstable County Sheriff. The one thing that comes to mind in both jobs is the outstanding, talented and dedicated men and women I have had the pleasure of working with. Thank you so much to all of you.
As Sheriff, I oversaw the design and construction of the Barnstable County Correctional Facility on Connery Avenue in Bourne. Construction began in 2002 and the facility opened its doors in 2004. The new Correctional Facility has allowed us to operate exactly as we had planned, with safety and security for inmates, staff and the community secured, additional inmate housing, space for inmate programing, and volunteer services. Our Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program remains one of the most successful in the country and is proven to reduce recidivism. In doing our part to fight the Opioid epidemic, we were the first Correctional Facility in the country to begin a Medication Assisted Treatment Program using the non-narcotic drug Vivitrol. We are in our schools and in the community with our youth and senior programs.
Throughout the years, our community service crews have provided services to help our towns and nonprofits with projects that would not have been done otherwise, saving the tax payer dollars.
On the Public Safety side of the house, our Bureau of Criminal Investigation continues to use technology to assist our local police departments in solving crimes. The addition of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) has greatly aided our local police in solving hundreds of house breaks and many other crimes as well. We upgraded to digital photography, trained and equipped investigators to solve computer crimes, continue to identify and gather DNA evidence, and many other such advances to provide critical information to help solve crimes in our community.
We provide many services available to our local police departments including:
The BCSO Canine Unit provides trained officers to locate people, articles and narcotics as well as patrol service to our towns on request.
Our newly trained Drone Unit with certified pilots and equipment provides service to Police and Fire Departments across Barnstable County.
The BCSO Hostage Negotiation Team and Special Response Team, in collaboration with the Upper Cape Cod Regional – Special Response Team, provide specialized training and resources and respond to critical incidents and situations in and around the Cape and Islands community.
The BCSO Marine Unit S300, in collaboration with local and state departments, Homeland Security and the US Coast Guard, patrols the waters off Cape Cod to provide boater assistance and keep the waters off our coastline secure.
The Regional Communications Center continues to grow, answering 911 calls for several towns as well as dispatching ambulance and fire department calls. We are currently in the process of upgrading our console equipment to better serve our community.
I have worked hard to make the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office an asset to the fifteen towns and residents of Barnstable County and I could not have done it without the tremendous staff here at the Sheriff’s Office and the support of our community.
Thank you for your support throughout the years. I’m looking forward to the final year of my term as your Sheriff serving the community of Barnstable County.
Sheriff Jim Cummings”
