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Police: Purse Stolen Tuesday in Smash-and-Grab at Irwin Park 

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A purse was stolen Tuesday morning in a smash-and-grab from an unoccupied car parked at Irwin Park, according to police. A window was smashed in the incident, which occurred at 8:58 a.m. and was the seventh illegally entered vehicle reported to police so far this calendar year, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said in a press release. Cash, cellphone, credit cards, Lotto ticket, laptop and wallet are among the items stolen in the thefts, which occurred on Heritage Hill Road, Main Street, New Norwalk Road, Woodway Ridge Lane and at Waveny, the chief said. “It is probable that these crimes are being committed by gang members,” Krolikowski said in the press release. “Many towns in Fairfield County are experiencing similar crimes.”

He issued the following prevention tips:

1.     KEYS: When unattended NEVER leave the key to your home or key/key fob to your car inside a vehicle or in a place where a thief can find them.

Bill Ferri

After 52 Years on the Job, New Canaan Police Lt. Bill Ferri To Retire at Month’s End

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Bill Ferri was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1965, one year after graduating from Stamford High School. 

He would serve as a specialist in the central highlands of Vietnam for one year starting in 1966. “I didn’t go to college,” the New Canaan resident recalled Thursday, standing by the veteran memorial plaques in the north lobby of Town Hall. “I didn’t want to go to college. They took me right off the street.”

Months after returning from the war, he joined the New Canaan Police Department, and he’s worked there ever since—for 52 years and four months—in a professional career that’s seen him protect and serve generations of locals. That career soon will close, as Lt. Bill Ferri prepares to retire at month’s end, marking the end of an era for the Police Department as well as the wider community.

News

Police Chief Urges State To Create Left-Turn-Only Sequence in Traffic Light at Cherry and Main Streets

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Municipal officials say they’ve asked the state to look into putting a “left-turn only” sequence for the traffic light at Main and Cherry Streets downtown. It’s common when eastbound motorists on Cherry seek to turn left onto Main “that maybe one car will get through that intersection before the light turns red,” according to Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. “And I’ve experienced that many, many times,” Krolikowski said at the Jan. 15 Police Commission meeting, held at department headquarters. “So nine months ago, I contacted the state and asked them to take a look at that intersection and see if they can put in a ‘left-turn only’ light there.

Board of Selectmen

After Dulos Case, New Canaan Police Investigators Seek More Video Surveillance Throughout Town

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Police investigators in New Canaan hope that the town’s plan to install cameras at Waveny’s entrances as a result of the Dulos case leads to more video surveillance throughout town. For the fourth straight year, the New Canaan Police Department Investigative Section is asking that municipal officials especially consider installations at the town border and entrance and exit ramps of the Merritt Parkway, according to an end-of-year report from the head of the section, Lt. Jason Ferraro. “This is directly supported by the Dulos case and the huge role that video evidence played in leading to the arrests of [Fotis] Dulos and [Michelle] Troconis,” Ferraro said in the report, discussed briefly at Jan. 15 regular meeting of the Police Commission and obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

“We realize this is a capital item but having LPR’s [“license plate recognition” cameras] located at strategic locations would greatly improve our ability to get ahead in an investigation and improve the likelihood of an arrest occurring. Hopefully the approval to install cameras at Waveny Park as a result of the Dulos case will be the beginning of more cameras at vital locations within New Canaan.”

The Board of Selectmen last month approved the hiring of a Bridgeport-based technology consulting firm to put together an RFP for updating security systems in New Canaan.

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Police Chief: ‘High Likelihood’ of Drug Possession, Possible Dealing in New Canaan Schools

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Getting a drug-sniffing dog access to public schools ranks high among  New Canaan Police Department priorities for this year, Chief Leon Krolikowski said Thursday. Police officials “are hopeful we will be able to get some folks in line” and finalize an agreement with the district so that the department’s K-9 unit can do its work inside schools, Krolikowski said during a budget hearing before the Board of Selectmen. 

“Because we do know as we sit here today that there’s a high likelihood that there are some kids in the school in possession of drugs and maybe distributing it,” Krolikowski said during the Board’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. “And what are we going to do as a town to prevent that from happening and frankly make our kids safer?”

Asked by Selectman Nick Williams where New Canaan is in the process, Krolikowski said “stalled.”

“It’s been tabled, I believe, by the superintendent and Board of Education,” he said. “It’s been a years-long effort to try to move that along and we are login to continue to do that and be a little bit more aggressive in trying to push that along. Get something in place that we are at least comfortable with.