Nearby Police Departments to Collaborate Officially

Darien has a canine, Stamford has a bomb squad, New Canaan doesn't, so the police department has often called its fellow departments for assistance to utilize those resources. A soon-to-be codified agreement will formalize the cooperation between the towns' police departments that has gone on for years.

New Canaan Police Captain Leon Krowlikowski is hopeful the new non-emergency interagency agreement will encourage even greater pooling of resources, especially when it comes to manpower for targeted traffic enforcement and investigations of serious or fatal accidents that can take months.

"I don't think we in Fairfield County have regionalized our resources as effectively as we could. Up in Hartford they have regional drug, SWAT," Krowlikowski said. "There's some talk about us doing some regional traffic enforcement, regional accident investigations. This agreement may move us toward that."

Though the agreement makes each municipality responsible for any costs including overtime, worker's compensation, fuel and equipment maintenance that may be incurred, Krowlikowski says participation is expected to be budget neutral.

"There's always some suspicion that it's going to increase overtime. [Participation in the agreement is] a voluntary thing. If we don't have officers available, we don't send them," he said, adding that the language describing the towns' responsibilities is intended to clarify liabilities. "We've never had any problems in 20 years of assisting other agencies."

Furthermore, Krowlikowski says the agreement will offer proof of the departments' efficiency that should make it easier for them to secure grant funds.

New Canaan First Selectman Jeb Walker and former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy have already signed it, the agreement is just awaiting Darien First Selectman Dave Campbell's signature following the Representative Town Meeting's approval which should come early next year.