New Canaan police officers through the first quarter of 2022 more than tripled their targeted checks of locations such as public parks and downtown areas as part of a wider effort to fight rising crime.
The number of “location checks” increased from 167 the first three months of 2021 to 544 this year, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski told members of the Police Commission during their April 20 regular meeting.
“The bulk of that increase is related to checking our parks and other locations,” Krolikowski said during the Commission’s meeting, held at New Canaan Police Department headquarters and via videoconference.
“Intensive patrols to try and prevent people who are coming into town and committing crimes from doing that,” he said. “So that’s good work by our officers, certainly.”
Krolikowski said earlier this year that police have been “very concerned about” rises in crimes such as stolen vehicles and thefts from cars—including smash-and-grabs at public parks, where criminals wait for visitors to park their cars and leave for a walk—as well as residential burglaries and organized thefts from retail establishments.
He noted at the Commission’s meeting that burglaries through the first three months of 2022 were up to four compared to zero for the year-ago period.
“Our investigators are working on those cases and it’s a Fairfield County group that is committing the majority of those and we are hopeful at some point that we will be able to make some arrests and catch those people,” Krolikowski said. “But as always, put your alarm system on, report suspicious activity. All good common sense things that our residents should always do. And these folks are actually breaking through sliding glass doors that typically aren’t alarmed so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to alarm your sliding glass doors, as well.” (Hours prior to the chief’s report, police responded to a report of an another attempted burglary on Turtleback Road.)
The increase in location checks came as the Police Department renewed requests for funds designed to bolster security. The chief asked for about $225,000 from the town to bolster security at public parks and the business district—funds approved by the Police Commission in February, followed by the Board of Finance and Town Council in March.
Krolikowski had issued memoranda in July and August 2019 for increased security in Waveny and in March 2021 for similar measures in Irwin Park and the downtown. The security initiatives include efforts to place cameras in public spaces to deter crime and assist investigators.