NCPD Officer Christopher Dewey Earns Stephen W. Wood Officer of the Year Award

Town officials last week honored an 11-year veteran of the New Canaan Police Department who has served in a number of roles and designed special training as its officer of the year. Officer Christopher Dewey during a ceremony at Town Hall on Thursday was awarded the 2023 Stephen W. Wood Officer of the Year. In addition to police and municipal officials, the ceremony was attended by Wood’s wife, Pat, and daughter, Kimberly Wood LaTourette. The award “holds a special significance” for NCPD, Chief John DiFederico said, as it honors the memory of the late lieutenant, “affectionately known as “Woody’ by many of us.”

“Lt. Wood dedicated 33 years of his life to serving the New Canaan Police Department and the community,” DiFederico said at the ceremony, held in Town Hall. “This year we’re going to recognize Officer Christopher Dewey.

‘A True Team Effort’: Letters of Appreciation for New Canaan Police Officers

The following letters of appreciation for New Canaan Police Department officers were made public during the Oct. 17 meeting of the Police Commission, by Chief Leon Krolikowski. ***

Officers Shane Gibson, Chris Dewey, Will Sheehan, Nicole Vartuli and Robert Rizzitelli

“On Tuesday Oct. 02, 2018, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF1 Tornado touched down in New Canaan and last from 1729 to 1941 hours. The tornado brought winds reaching speeds of 100 mph.

New Canaan Marks Veterans Day in Ceremony at Town Hall

Though the many ways that civilians thank U.S. military veterans are right and appropriate—parades, observances, moments of silence and simple thank-you’s, for example—the most complete ways to honor those who have served must deliver both recognition and lasting empowerment, one active serviceman said Wednesday. The United States currently counts about 50,000 homeless veterans—a group that is susceptible to suicide at a 50 percent higher rate than civilians, according to statistics cited by Lt. Todd Kniffen, who commands an officer candidate company of 100 young men and women in Newport, R.I., and whose mother lives here in New Canaan. “Indeed, more veterans have been lost to suicide than have been killed in combat operations since the global War on Terror began,” Kniffen told more than 100 people (many of them in uniform) gathered in the Town Meeting Room for the community’s annual Veterans Day Ceremony, moved inside from its usual location by the Wayside Cross at God’s Acre due to foul weather. “Raise awareness of these facts, volunteer your time and resources to causes that fight these trends. By doing so I promise that you gain, for the world and for the nation, a person whose core motivation is duty and service.