‘Good Work Can Be Overlooked’: Letters of Appreciation for NCPD

The following letters of support for New Canaan Police officers were made public by Chief John DiFederico at the May 18 Police Commission meeting, held in Town Hall.

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Officer Kelly Coughlin

Dear Chief DiFederico,

I am writing to extend my sincere gratitude to you and the New Canaan Police Department for the outstanding support provided during our recent missing person search on April 19, 2025. The deployment of your Drone Team with Officer Kelly Coughlin was instrumental in our search efforts. Her professionalism and expertise allowed us to locate the missing party in good health.

The level of knowledge and commitment demonstrated by Officer Coughlin reflects positively on your agency. Please extend my heartfelt appreciation to Officer Coughlin for her assistance. 

Respectfully

Jeffery Kreitz,

Chief of Police, Ridgefield

(April 30)

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I want to applaud all of the police officers whose quick response identified the young people involved in the damage done to the front field in Kiwanis Park last night when I reported the incident. I didn’t realize the intensity of the damage until I examined the field this morning: [photos]. I hope these teens learned their lesson so that it won’t be repeated. 

Sincerely,

Betty J. Lovastik

(April 14)

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Officer Annamaria Ceci

Chief,

On March 14th during day shift I responded as backup to a [redacted] residence with officer [Annamaria] Ceci regarding a medical assist. The medical was related to a patient who reported pain and that his caregiver had hit his face. I did not observe any marks to the face, but there was strong abdomen pain.

There was a caregiver there from [redacted]. The patient was in pain, and Officer ceci informed me that she had a similar call recently at the house involving the same caregiver, and suspected the patient was being mistreated or possibly neglected by the caregiver.

After I observed the caregiver’s conduct at the scene, it presented me with a reasonable suspicion of possible elder neglect. She appeared annoyed and indifferent to the pain the patient was experiencing, and stated she wanted to leave as her shift was done.

Officer Ceci was advised to work the case and follow up every possible lead. We both wrote reports that presented our observations, but Officer Ceci was the primary officer on this case and followed up multiple leads. She contacted EMS and the Hospital to speak with staff and obtained case notes from EMS which she saved to Property. She contacted family members [redacted] of the patient to advise them of the incident. Officer Ceci notified New Canaan Human Services of the possible neglect. She reached out to [redacted] to report the issue directly to the caregiver’s supervisor. She then contacted the State of Connecticut Adult Protective Services to report the incident, and spoke with the State’s Attorney Officer about any possible criminal violations.

This is a good example of an officer that chooses not to treat a call as “routine,” and instead observed possible warning signs and investigated the “hunch” that all police get when things don’t seem right. A lot of times when there is no criminal arrest made the officer’s good work can be overlooked as just another incident report. But Officer Ceci took the time and conducted a thorough investigation which I wanted to take the time to recognize,

Sincerely,

Sgt. George Caponera 

(April 4)