Police said last week that in nearly all cases, the vehicles that are stolen from New Canaan are left unlocked with the keys left inside.
Asked during a Board of Selectmen meeting whether cars ever get stolen when keys are not left in the car, Police Chief John DiFederico said, “It happens, [but] not very frequently.”
“The high percentage of time, the keys are left in the vehicle,” DiFederico said during a Jan. 21 budget presentation to the selectmen, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “Fortunately with our license plate reader program, we are identifying some of the cars, not only in our jurisdiction, but we’ve had some success stories.”
The comments came following a report from police that the number of stolen cars more than doubled in New Canaan in 2024.
Deputy Chief Andrew Walsh said that the department is working on the cases, and just that week authorities were able to recover one vehicle off of a shipping container in New Jersey.
“They’re getting some arrest warrants with different methods of investigation, including DNA,” Walsh said.
Yet that’s also just one out of the 40 reports of stolen vehicles from last year, the chief noted.
“The majority of them are getting taken to some of the bigger cities or used for other crimes,” DiFederico said. “A small percentage are being shipped overseas or wherever, and utilized for that purpose. But a high percentage are with the keys left in the vehicles.”
During the discussion, DiFederico and Walsh also introduced a new crime prevention initiative that involves presentations to the community as well as free home assessments. Those presentations will run at New Canaan Library in either late-January or February, Walsh said, and a separate one will be offered to Staying Put in New Canaan.
“So we’re going to coordinate with them and … give them some of the outlines of the program and just do some more outreach on crime prevention, and offer it to the public, as well, for their houses or businesses,” Walsh said. “We’ve already done one business. We have another one lined up and a couple of residential [property owners] already.”
In a social media post, NCPD said the free security assessments of local homes and businesses are “designed to help you enhance safety and gain peace of mind.” It instructs people to call or text NCPD Officer Roy Adams at 203-989-6050 to learn more or to book an assessment.