New Canaan is on pace to see about 50 stolen vehicles this year, according to Police Chief Leon Krolikowski, a figure that would nearly double the total of 27 from 2020.
The chief told members of the Police Commission at their regular meeting last week the he’s “hoping that levels off.”
“And we are working with some of our state legislators and the state itself, there are some promises of money to create a task force to go after these folks that are stealing the vehicles,” Krolikowski said during the meeting, held July 26 via videoconference.
“I have been speaking with our state’s attorney to see what legally we can do, specifically with respect to investigations,” he continued. “And it’s challenging because if someone steals a car and dumps the car somewhere, merely because their DNA or a fingerprint is found in the car, does not necessarily equate to a crime being committed, so it’s challenging in that regard. And we are not sure yet whether our lab is going to process these presumably hundreds of vehicles that get stolen across Connecticut, if they are going to process the evidence related to that, meaning DNA or fingerprints. But we are working on that.”
The comments came during the chief’s regular update for the Commission on monthly statistics. In June, New Canaan had five more vehicles stolen from residences, in all cases unlocked cars with keys left inside. The total through the first half fo the year is 23, compared to 10 in the same period in 2020, the chief reported.
In speaking to his counterparts throughout the state, the chief said he has concluded that the biggest challenge to stemming the thefts is that juvenile laws are too lenient.
“Repeat offenders aren’t even going to detention,” Krolikowski said.
“And Stamford had a pretty tragic case where a 14-year-old executed someone and that 14-year-old is a repeat offender and the most that 14-year-old is going to to get is three years in juvenile detention,” he continued. “So that gives you an idea: An execution-murder you get three years, so if you steal a car, there is no real expectation that someone is going to be locked up and prevented.”
One idea that authorities have discussed is having a GPS monitor placed on repeat offenders, though it’s unclear how effective that would be since young criminals are able to remove the devices without serious consequences from the courts.
Commission Secretary Jim McLaughlin asked what’s happening with the prosecutions of adults arrested in recent months for car thefts in New Canaan. Krolikowski said the cases are active, though thefts of cars often are prosecuted as property crimes, since it’s difficult to establish that a thief intended to keep a vehicle. Charges often are reduced from first-degree larceny to misdemeanor taking a vehicle without an owner’s permission, he said.
“Our criminal justice system is not perfect but that happens to be how things work,” Krolikowski said.
The chief for years has reported back to the Commission on the problem of re-offending juveniles who steal cars from New Canaan. The appointed body also has discussed how the cases are prosecuted, stirring conversation in the community.
Commission Chair Paul Foley during last week’s meeting noted that the crimes start “with leaving keys in cars.”
“As long as people in town continue to leave their keys in cars, it’s just ripe for these thefts,” Foley said.
Krolikowski said the car thefts are happening statewide.