News

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

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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.

Brian Mitchell

‘You Represented the Department Well’: Letters of Commendation for New Canaan Police 

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The following letters of commendation were reviewed at the Nov. 20, 2018 Police Commission meeting. They were presented by New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. ***

Officer Clinton Jarvis

“Officer Jarvis, Thank you for much for your help tonight getting the van that was accidentally locked with the keys inside. Your speedy professionalism and assistance was very much appreciated and although this was a minor issue you represented the department well!”

—David & Carolyn Lewis

***

Sgt.

News

Police: ‘Following Too Closely’ a Leading Cause of Car Crashes Outside of Downtown New Canaan

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The lead cause of motor vehicle accidents at five “hot spot” intersections outside of downtown New Canaan is motorists driving too close to the vehicles in front of them, according to police. Following too closely “overwhelmingly” has been the number one reason for car crashes at Old Stamford and Talmadge Hill Roads, South Avenue and Farm Road and three intersections along the Route 123 corridor, at Old Norwalk Road, Lakeview Avenue and East Avenue, according to New Canaan Police Officer David Payne, the department’s lead accident reconstructionist. As part of a data-driven effort to make local roads safer, Payne at the request of Deputy Chief John DiFederico studied three-plus years’ worth of accident data in New Canaan—some 1,600 crashes in all, he said. “The whole purpose of this was to identify locations, so now that is done and I’ve identified some causation factors, so now the deputy chief wants to do targeted enforcement at those locations,” Payne said. Future efforts from police could revolve around campaigns where police measure compliance with laws such as those requiring motorists to travel a reasonable distance apart from the cars in front of them, then conduct targeted enforcement and measure again at the same places, Payne said.

Around Town

VIDEO: New Canaan Remembers, Honors Those Lost on 9/11

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9 11 Memorial Ceremony New Canaan Sept 9 2016
Uploaded by Michael Dinan on 2016-09-09. For New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski, a town resident, father and U.S. Marines veteran, no words or ceremony could replace the losses that our nation suffered in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. What we can do, Krolikowski told those gathered in front of Town Hall on a hot and humid Friday morning, is “reflect, and honor each day those we have lost—and we must never forget.”

“The most fitting ceremony for the lives lost on September 11 is not etched on the memorial across the street,” Krolikowski said during a solemn memorial ceremony honoring those lost on 9/11, referring to a 16-foot section of steel column from the core section of World Trade Center Tower One on the 99thfloor—just above the impact point of United flight 175—that stands outside the New Canaan Firehouse. “And is not the ceremony today, but it is etched in our hearts as we enjoy the freedom that was made possible by the grave sacrifice of the many lives that have been lost from September 11th forward.