New Canaan Police reported last week that car crashes are down significantly in 2020.
Police Chief Leon Krolikowski told members of the Police Commission during their regular meeting Oct. 21 that motor vehicle accidents with property damage are down 41% through September of this year compared to last, from 293 to 172, while accidents with injuries are down 36% in the same period, from 33 to 21.
“I think that is related to the dramatic decrease in traffic that we saw due to COVID,” Krolikowski said during the meeting, held via videoconference.
As police anticipated, authorities also have seen a steep rise of psychiatric calls, which doubled in March amid the early weeks of the pandemic here and are up 54%, from 26 to 40 year-to-date through September.
“That is a pretty good increase and our officers are certainly doing a great job with our crisis intervention teams and dealing with people who have pretty profound behavioral health issues that we are trying to deal with as effectively as we can,” Krolikowski said.