New Canaan Police stops for motor vehicle violations are up 33% through the first quarter of 2025, officials say.
The rise, up from 667 through the first three months of 2024 to 989 this year, reflects the department’s focus on public safety and police presence as a deterrent, according to Chief John DiFederico.
“We’re seeing a nice bump in some of our high visibility enforcement which is helpful to curb other crimes,” DiFederico told members of the Police Commission at their regular meeting, held Wednesday night at Town Hall and via videoconference.
He continued: “It’s good to see officers out there conducting some traffic enforcement to slow people down, make them a little bit more conscious of pedestrians and bicyclists that are gonna get out there in the warmer weathers. That’s good to see.”
The comments came during an update to the Commission on monthly statistics within the New Canaan Police Department.
Officers appear to be using radar to conduct more stops, as well. According to the data shared by DiFederico, radar stops are up to 167 through the first three months of 2025, compared to 61 in the same period last year.
Some of the additional enforcement has been enabled by grants, the chief said.
The increase in MV stops also comes as the department operates most of the time at “minimum shift” in terms of staffing, DiFederico said. With officers out for reasons that range from extended medical and injury leaves to military leave and special assignments, police are operating at minimum shift 52% of the time, the chief said.
“But we’re still better than we were a year ago,” he said. “If you look back for 2024, we were running at minimum shift over 70% of the time — 65% to 75% of the time we were running a minimum shift. So that seems to be a little bit better this year.”
The department is also in the process of bringing in additional officers. According to an update from Police Capt. Joseph Farenga, the department recently narrowed down a field of 20 candidates to five, of which three are expected to be hired for training at the state academy in July or October.
The monthly statistics shared by DiFederico also showed that there have been no reported larcenies from motor vehicles so far in 2025, where there had been 11 in the first three months of last year. Stolen vehicle reports also are down in the same period, from six to three. While burglaries are down from seven to four year-over-year, larcenies overall are up in the same period, from 14 in the first quarter of 2024 to 20 this year, according to the statistics shared by the chief.
Putnam Road is a racetrack every morning. Cars use it as a cut-through and are speeding to either the high school or the train station. Many residents in the neighborhood have complained to the police department; yet, there has been no enforcement effort.
This is a disaster waiting to happen. The neighborhood is full of children walking to Saxe middle school and the high school.
Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope you’re bagging a lot of red light runners. I see people run red lights multiple times per day in New Canaan. SO DANGEROUS!