Andrew Walsh

‘I Don’t Think It’s Very Realistic’: Committee Mulls Postponement or Cancellation of July 4th Waveny Fireworks [UPDATED]

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Members of the volunteer committee that organizes the annual fireworks celebration at Waveny said Wednesday that the popular family gathering likely won’t happen in any form on July 4 and that it remains to be seen whether a postponed event is feasible. The Family Fourth Committee stopped short of making a formal recommendation to postpone or cancel the event. Yet even in a modified fireworks show—for example, where attendees are told to park on the lawn at Waveny and remain in their cars—members of the group voiced concerns about people ignoring such instructions. 

“Here’s an example—the parks got closed for a reason,” Committee member Wendy Dixon Fog, who also is a volunteer EMT with New Canaan Emergency Medical Services, said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “And they got closed because people refused to social distance and you had a lacrosse game and you had a little bumble bee soccer game and these parents were already told, ‘Social distancing, no games.’ So if we can’t control what they are doing in small numbers, I don’t know how we are going to be able to do this.”

Chair Tom Stadler said the Committee would meet weekly until it reached a decision. Committee member Robin Bates-Mason said Norwalk, Westport, Enfield, West Haven, Hartford and Windsor Locks already have canceled their Independence Day fireworks.

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Selectmen Approve New Security Cameras at NCPD

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Town officials on Tuesday approved a $9,205 contract with a Norwalk-based company to replace security cameras at the New Canaan Police Department. The Board of Selectmen voted 2-0 in favor of the contract with Security Solutions. The funds are to be paid of out this year’s approved capital budget, according to Police Capt. Andrew Walsh. The department’s current video surveillance system is “over a decade old with grainy footage,” Walsh said during the selectmen’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. “We have a few blind spots around the building,” he said.

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Newest New Canaan Police Officer Sworn In; Tam Receives ‘Officer of the Year Award’; 8 Officers, 3 Civilians Honored

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The New Canaan Police Department on Tuesday recognized eight officers and three civilians for outstanding service to the community during a ceremony that also saw the agency’s newest member sworn in by the town clerk. In addressing Nicole Vartuli, a Stamford native and Westhill High School graduate who is poised for training at the Connecticut Police Academy this year with an expectation that she will undergo field training with NCPD through the early part of 2018, Chief Leon Krolikowski said that “badge you were just issued represents public trust.”

“The public willingly puts this work in your hands and trusts that you will take care of them in the proper manner,” Krolikowski said moments after Vartuli had been sworn in by Town Clerk Claudia Weber. “They do not want this responsibility for themselves. My charge to you today is to do just that: Get it right. We have all heard about the stories of officers who have gotten it wrong.

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New Canaan Police Department Promotes Four

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Four members of the New Canaan Police Department have been promoted, Chief Leon Krolikowski said Monday. The promotions follow two recent retirements and “will empower us to continually provide the highest level of service to our community,” Krolikowski said in a press reelase. “We are proud of these newly promoted officers, their accomplishments and their dedication to our department and town.”

Two of those promoted include officers who had moved up in rank as recently as last summer. Former Lt. Andrew Walsh has joined the NCPD command staff as captain, a position that became vacant when former Capt. Vincent DeMaio took the job as Clinton Police Department chief earlier this year. The promotions are as follows, Krolikowski said:

Lt. Andrew Walsh was promoted to captain.

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New Canaan Police Department Promotes Four, Honors Three and Gives K-9 Apollo His ‘Badge’

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Newly promoted Sgt. Marc DeFelice of the New Canaan Police Department describes his uncle, Dinny Lapolla, as a man of few words. “So when he talks, he makes his point,” DeFelice told a roomful of fellow officers and their families, town officials and guests on Tuesday night. During a special ceremony that saw DeFelice officially was promoted to the rank of sergeant—his was one of four promotions made on the night, in addition to three special awards given to other officers (see gallery above for information and quotes from honorees)—the New Canaan High School graduate recalled what his uncle, himself a 30-year veteran of the force, told him on getting hired. “He said, ‘Go out there and do the right thing,’ ” DeFelice recalled from a podium in the Douglass Room at Lapham Community Center.