News

‘We Should Be Able To Do That’: Police Eye Unannounced K-9 Sweeps for Drugs at NCHS

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As part of a wider effort to address drug use among New Canaan youth, police say they’re trying to find a way to bring the department’s new K-9 unit into the high school for unannounced sweeps of the building. Asked at Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting whether K-9 dog Apollo found any substances during an exercise where he swept through NCHS hallways just prior to the start of the academic year, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski answered: “Suffice to say there are drugs in the school as we speak, no question—and there always have been and always will be.”

“It is just our job to disrupt that and make people think twice if they are going to bring drugs on campus,” the chief said at the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. “That is our intent. We are working with the superintendent where there is some kind of policy where we are able to go, unannounced, and check for narcotics.”

Asked at the time of the K-9 sweep whether unannounced visits by Apollo could become part of NCHS policy, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi said the school board was reviewing its policies and was committed to making its schools drug-free. Police Commissioner Paul Foley said at the meeting that Krolikowski had the “total support” of the commission to make unannounced K-9 sweeps at the high schools.

News

NCPD K-9 Detects Marijuana Hidden in Spare Tire Area of Stamford Woman’s Car

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Police cited a 33-year-old Stamford woman on minor drug charges last week after finding a small amount of marijuana and smoking gear in her car during a traffic stop. At about 10:48 a.m. on Sept. 3, an officer stopped the woman for traveling 41 mph in a 25 mph zone on White Oak Shade Road near Brookside Road, according to a police report. Approaching the car, the officer detected a smell of burnt marijuana and called for the department’s K-9 dog, Apollo, who had been working an extra-duty job in town, the repot said. During a search of the vehicle, the dog found burnt marijuana cigarette ends in a small pill bottle where the spare tire goes, as well as a multi-colored smoking pipe inside a blue pouch and another box with a small amount of pot in it.

News

Police K-9 Unit Sweeps New Canaan High School for Heroin, Other Drugs in Training Exercise

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New Canaan Police K 9 Apollo at NCHS
The New Canaan Police Department’s newly deployed K-9 unit swept through New Canaan High School’s hallways Wednesday morning, sniffing lockers during a demonstration and training exercise that could yield a more regular effort to use the drug-sniffing dog to combat substance abuse among local youth. Apollo, a German shepherd dog that since completing training in July has worked throughout town with NCPD Officer David Rivera—making his public debut at the Family Fourth at Waveny and already helping police with drug arrests in town—spent more than one hour sniffing lockers up and down NCHS hallways. The keenly sensitive, drug-sniffing dog successfully detected marijuana and heroin planted by NCPD officers during a tightly controlled test, and is able additionally to detect crack-cocaine and cocaine, among other drugs, Rivera said. “Once he tells me he is entirely sure, that’s when I am good with it,” Rivera said during the session, as a leashed Apollo in sweeping the lockers throughout the hallways stopped and lay down in front of those where School Resource Officer Jason Kim had planted the drugs as a test. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski and NCHS Principal Bill Egan followed Rivera and Kim through the school.

News

Police K-9 Dog ‘Apollo’ Assists Police with Drug Arrest During Motor Vehicle Stop

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Police arrested a 23-year-old Stamford man last Wednesday afternoon after discovering, with the help of the department’s new K-9 dog, marijuana and smoking gear during a traffic stop. At about 1:53 p.m. on July 29, an officer stopped a car traveling south on Old Stamford Road when he noticed that it didn’t have a Department of Motor Vehicles-issued inspection sticker for after-market tints on his front and rear windows, according to a police report. During the stop, the officer smelled burnt marijuana coming from inside the car and asked the driver whether there were any drugs in the vehicle, the report said. The driver responded no, and after he was asked to exit the car, Apollo the new K-9 dog was dispatched to the scene and swiftly found pot, a smoking pipe and two yellow pills later determined to be the drug known as ‘Ecstasy,’ the report said. The drugs were in the center console of the car and inside a media player box, the report said.

New Canine-ites

‘A Very Good Dog’: Police Department’s New K-9, Apollo, Makes Waveny Debut

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New Canaan’s first K-9 Police dog in more than two years started his patrol on our nation’s birthday on Saturday, at the 35th annual Family Fourth celebration at Waveny. Apollo, a full-breed German Shepherd dog, has been with his partner, Officer David Rivera for 2.5 months, and lives with Rivera at his house. He is cross-trained as a patrol dog who also has a narcotics certification, the police officer said. Apollo will assist police in finding missing items, persons, and also locating narcotics. “His ability to find people, I would say, is the best tool that is going to be brought to the town,” said Officer Rivera.