Seeking to forge and foster positive relationships between officers and civilians as divides between the two have yielded violent clashes elsewhere, the New Canaan Police Department soon will launch ‘Coffee with a Cop.’
The new program, which has launched successfully in neighboring Norwalk, is designed to bolster already “exceptional” relationships between officers and civilians in New Canaan, according to Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. “The majority of the community and our officers are well-respected and appreciated, but violence around the nation affects everybody, and just because New Canaan is a relatively safe town, that doesn’t mean that officers are not concerned about their safety and how the public views them,” he said. Krolikowski referred to incidents that have seen five police officers killed and nine wounded in Dallas on July 7, then three officers killed and three injured in Baton Rouge 10 days later. The Dallas shootings brought the total number of law enforcement officers who had died in the line of duty to 31, compared to 18 for the same point in 2015, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The idea of bringing ‘Coffee with a Cop’ to New Canaan was Officer Ron Bentley’s, the chief said.
