New Canaan Marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month [VIDEO]

Dede Bartlett-New Canaan Marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month
For a sweeping view of domestic violence’s prevalence here, our town may not need the 1,000 purple pinwheels now stuck into the knoll outside Vine Cottage, each representing a resident who called New Canaan Police in the past decade because of violence in their homes, according to one local expert. To know just what domestic violence looks like, New Canaan also doesn’t need to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Dede Bartlett, co-chair of the New Canaan Domestic Violence Partnership, said Wednesday morning. “I think Ray Rice has done that for us,” Bartlett told dozens of New Canaan High School students who gathered in the main lobby with teachers, faculty, administrators, SROs and town officials for a proclamation reading. “How many of you saw the video clip of the Baltimore Ravens football player punch his girlfriend, knock her out and drag her by the hair out of the elevator?” Bartlett said, prompting everyone to raise a hand. “Yes, you, me and about 50 million other Americans saw that tape, and maybe for a whole lot of folks, it was the first time that they saw what domestic violence looked like.

Reported Family Disputes, Domestic Violence Incidents in New Canaan Double Year-over-Year

The number of family disputes and domestic violence incidents reported to New Canaan police roughly doubled year-over-year in the summer months, officials say. From July 2013 to July 2014, the number of family disputes—incidents which do not necessarily involve domestic violence—increased from 34 to 56; in August year-over-year, from 29 to 62, according to Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. The data could indicate that more residents are calling police for help, Krolikowski said Wednesday during a meeting of the Police Commission, held in the department’s training room. Domestic violence incidents year-to-date have increased from 34 at this time in 2013 to 62 so far this year in the same timeframe, the chief said. “It’s huge,” Krolikowski said of the increase.

New Canaan Man Arrested on Felony Charge for Violating Protective Order

A 41-year-old New Canaan man was arrested on a felony charge this past weekend after violating a protective order designed to restrict contact with his wife to matters regarding the couple’s children and keep him away from his wife’s residence, police said. He came to police headquarters at 6:40 p.m. Sunday and was arrested there, according to New Canaan Police Sgt. Carol Ogrinc, the department’s public information officer. The husband has been restricted to only emailing, texting or talking with his wife in relation to matters regarding their kids—and prevented from physically going to her place of residence here in town—since a protective order was issued in March, Ogrinc said. He’s accused of going to a school event on Friday and trying to engage his wife in conversation unrelated to their kids, police said.

Felony Charge for New Canaan Man after Knife Incident

By Michael Dinan

New Canaan police on Jan. 29 arrested a 42-year-old Park Street man by warrant and charged him with first-degree reckless endangerment—a felony offense—second-degree threatening and two counts of interfering with a 911 call. He is accused of becoming angry at a girlfriend and brandishing a knife, according to police. Authorities learned of the accusations on Jan. 12, more than one month after they are meant to have taken place, according to New Canaan police Sgt.