Last month’s spurt of five smash-and-grabs from parked cars in Waveny was highly unusual, according to police, after four such break-ins occurred in all of 2021 and just one in Waveny the year before.
Though it’s “not quite a hotbed of crime there,” Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said, “we are concerned and that’s one of the reasons we asked for video cameras in the parks, to help with our investigations.”
“We are increasing patrols, our detectives do have open investigations into those crimes,” Krolikowski said during a Jan. 19 meeting of the Police Commission.
“We believe that these folks who actually break windows and go into the parks specifically are a very well-organized group that targets cars, and comes into the park and is in and out very quickly. A number of communities in our area got hit by them. They come from down South, typically. They’ll fly up, they’ll get a rental car, they’ll steal a car and they’ll come and commit these crimes. So it’s very challenging for us to catch these folks unless they leave behind some physical evidence. But they don’t usually, unless they use the credit cards, which typically they don’t right away. Or unless there’s some way for us to connect them in with other crimes that are happening in other communities. So of course I appreciate that people get frustrated when these things happen—nobody wants to be the victim of a crime—but the reality is if you do put your valuables in your trunk, if you go for a walk, nobody is going to break into your trunk. It’s just not gong to happen.”
The comments came in response to concerns voiced by a New Canaan resident, David Finkel, who said he and others in town are “very concerned with rising property crimes in the town, including car break-ins, car theft, mail theft and home break-ins.”
“Obviously the concern is that these crimes will continue to increase in number and brazenness,” he said. “And eventually, it’s inevitable, they will continue to escalate and eventually someone will get hurt. It’s not unreasonable to suspect that a homeowner interrupts a home break-in or somebody is actually mugged in the park.”
Finkel called on the Police Commission to talk about what measures the New Canaan Police Department is taking with respect to the thefts and break-ins.
Krolikowski noted that New Canaan Police detectives have made progress when physical evidence is able to be gathered at the scene of a crime, and so the police have made arrests in multiple cases—those are reported in local media and sometimes lead to awards for police officers, which also are covered by local news—though “this is very challenging for us without evidence.”
Every single officer in our department is committed to serving the town and protecting it,” Krolikowski said. “These people come here one, two days and then go back down South. It’s very hard to protect against. We have increased patrols. The cameras are working in Waveny—not working quite how we want to just yet, but we have people who are working on that diligently. So that’s part of the reason we asked for cameras to be in the parks, because we know that these folks that go into the parks will break a window and try to steal an item. We have also asked for license plate readers.”
Asked where the license plate readers would be installed, Krolikowski said, “strategic locations” on “public roadways” so that they yield a “network of data gathering” for investigators.
Members of the Police Commission also noted that the laws in Connecticut are designed to protect offenders younger than 18, and as a result, the criminal gangs that steal cars recruit juveniles to carry out the thefts.