Barnstable Sheriff Rolls Out New Vision For Public Safety On Cape Cod

CAPE COD, MA — The Barnstable County Sheriff's Office is taking a new approach to incarceration and the path for reentry.

Sheriff Donna D. Buckley today unveiled a "visionary model for the future of public safety on Cape Cod." The approach is centered on a newly established community facility known as The Bridge Center and a new initiative the office is calling Public Safety 2.0.

That approach "reimagines incarceration as an opportunity for strategic intervention and prepares individuals for stability and success from the first day in custody," officials said.

Located at the Barnstable court complex in Barnstable Village, The Bridge Center will provide a broad slate of structured post-release wraparound services in partnership with trusted local organizations.

These include clinical care, job training, housing navigation, education pathways, parenting supports, arts and culture exposure and other stabilizing resources designed to reduce recidivism and improve mental health and public safety outcomes, officials said.

“In too many circumstances, people recidivate because the challenges of reintegration are overwhelming. The supports we provide to those in custody must continue upon release, otherwise we cannot act surprised when offenders return,” said Sheriff Buckley.

She continued:

“The Bridge Center exists to close that precarious space. It’s the structure people need when they’re ready to really move forward — and we’ve built this programming with the community’s safety in mind.”

Public Safety 2.0 is the result of two years of systems planning, community partnership development and reorganization of correctional programming.

It establishes a continuity-of-care model in which clinical and practical supports begin on day one of incarceration, are embedded into a person’s entire time in custody and are maintained after release through strategic connections with community partners, officials said.

“This is not about soft-on-crime politics,” said Buckley. “This is about smart-on-safety strategy. Public Safety 2.0 means we prepare people while they’re in our care — so they don’t become your neighborhood’s next emergency. We’re building safety through structure, accountability, and real opportunity.”

This initiative is supported by a coalition of community-based organizations and service providers across sectors, including healthcare, education, housing, behavioral health, workforce development, arts, culture and family support.

The Bridge Center is not a pilot program, officials said, but rather a "purposeful expansion of services already underway."

The new initiative won't require new taxpayer investment or additional state funding. Rather, by leveraging existing partnerships and internal alignment, the Sheriff’s Office has developed a model that they believe is both fiscally responsible and operationally effective.

“When we release people without support, we put the public at risk,” Buckley said. “But when we continue to support people with tools and purpose — we give them a real chance, and we make our communities safer in the process. The Bridge Center is where that chance becomes possible — a safe span from one chapter to the next.”