In an effort to remind citizens to lock their cars and secure their valuables, the Chief has decided that our patrol cars will now be displaying "Lock Your Car. Everytime. Everywhere" on the back windows.  This is being done both as an educational effort as well as a means of preventing some of the recent car break-ins and thefts the Town of Darien has been experiencing.  Many of the recent thefts that have been experienced in town have been crimes of opportunity where citizens have left their cars unlocked in their driveways overnight with valuables left inside the car.  We are hoping to reduce, if not eliminate, these crimes of opportunity by constantly reminding citizens to always lock their cars.

For the second year in a row, the Darien Police Department has received a 1st place award in the Connecticut State Department of Transportation's "Traffic Challenge" competition.

On October 14, 2009, Darien Police Chief Lovello, Captain Pavia and Traffic Division Officers Isaac and Martin attended the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s “Traffic Summit”, which was held at Central Connecticut State University. 

This annual summit is intended as a way for police departments across the state to discuss traffic enforcement strategies and road safety campaigns.  Also conducted during this summit, is the awards ceremony for the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s previous year’s (2008) state wide “Traffic Challenge”.

The “Traffic Challenge” is a competition between Connecticut law enforcement agencies that recognizes and rewards the best overall traffic safety programs in the state.  Law Enforcement agencies compete against similar sized departments; the Darien Police are in the 46-65 sworn officer category.  The areas of concentration include efforts to enforce laws and educate the public about occupant protection, impaired driving, and speeding. The winning safety programs are those which combine officer training, public information, and enforcement; in order to reduce crashes and injuries within an agency's jurisdiction.

The "Traffic Challenge" competition is intended to provide an incentive for continuing traffic safety initiatives, and documentation of an agency’s effectiveness, which can all be used in future state sponsored grant funding proposals for traffic enforcement and education campaigns.

The Darien Police Department Traffic Division is continually looking into the development of traffic safety initiatives in an effort to reduce crashes and save lives. By applying for federal grant funding through the CT DOT, the Traffic Division has been able to implement Hazardous Moving Violations enforcement campaigns within the Town of Darien. The funds acquired have been used to enhance our traffic enforcement efforts within town and thereby reduce the incidents and behaviors that often result in traffic crashes and injuries. In 2007, the Darien Police Department initiated a Hazardous Moving Violations Campaign in the downtown area. 500 educational traffic law flyers were made up by the Traffic Division and handed out to area motorists in an effort to educate drivers on common violations in the area. 504 traffic violation tickets were issued during this two and a half month campaign. The end result was a 30 percent reduction rate in motor vehicle accidents for the downtown area. Currently, in 2009, the Darien PD has again launched a Hazardous Moving Violations campaign.  The Traffic Division again received grant funding from the CT DOT to implement this campaign from June to September.

The Darien Police Department Traffic Division also applies to the CT DOT for enhanced funding for our Click It or Ticket seatbelt enforcement campaigns. The funds acquired allow the Darien Police Department to set up consistent patterns of seatbelt checkpoints throughout the town during these campaign waves. This allows us to supplement our routine enforcement in this area and deploy a dedicated seatbelt enforcement effort. Also, informational newspaper articles are printed in both our local newspapers during these campaigns in an effort to educate the public and get them to learn the importance of always buckling-up. In turn, all this has increased our motoring public seatbelt use rate in Darien to about 85 percent.

On January 6, 2008, 17 year old Cassidy Geary was involved in a fatal car crash in Norwalk. The investigation of this accident revealed that if Cassie had been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, she would likely have walked away from the incident with only a bump on her head. To honor Cassie, the Geary family, of Gearys Gallery in Darien, developed a website www.clickitforcassie.com and bumper stickers Click It For Cassie, in an effort to save lives by promoting seatbelt safety. The Darien Police Traffic Division learned about this campaign in the spring of 2008 and began assisting the Geary family in getting their message of Cassies Story out to as many people as possible. In turn, the Traffic Division arranged a meeting between the Geary family and the Traffic Safety Division of the CT Department of Transportation. A Click It or Ticket public education video on seatbelt safety was produced in New Haven with Lieutenant Governor Fidele, CT DOT Safety Officer Edmund Hedge, and Chelsea Geary, the older sister of Cassie Geary. One of the focal points of this video was the tragic story of Cassie Geary and the life saving mission the Geary family has taken up to honor their daughter. In honor of Cassie and the Geary family, the Traffic Division Officers presented a Teen Traffic Safety speech on October 28th 2008 at Cassies High School, Trinity Catholic in Stamford. The Traffic Division handed out 250 Click It For Cassie bumper stickers to the junior and senior Trinity Catholic high school students. The Traffic Division brings Cassies Story and Click It For Cassie bumper stickers to all of their public events.

 

The Darien Police Department received a 1st Place Award for our 2007 “Law Enforcement Traffic Challenge submission report. The CT Department of Transportation and the CT Police Chiefs Association held their yearly Law Enforcement Traffic Summit on October 22, 2008 and presented awards to the winning Police Departments. The Law Enforcement Traffic Challenge is a competition between similar size and types of law enforcement agencies. It recognizes and rewards the best overall traffic safety programs in the state on a yearly basis. The areas of concentration include efforts to enforce laws and educate the public about occupant protection, impaired driving, and speeding. Departments submit an application which documents their agency’s efforts and effectiveness in these areas. The winning safety programs are those that combine officer training, public information, and enforcement to reduce crashes and injuries within its jurisdiction.

The Law Enforcement Traffic Challenge competition is a friendly way for departments to increase their attention to traffic safety. It provides opportunities for public recognition of exemplary programs, incentive for continuing traffic safety activities, and documentation of agency effectiveness that can be used in future grant proposals.

The Traffic Division officers compiled this lengthy statistical report and were responsible for submitting it to the CT DOT. This was the first year the Darien Police Department had participated in this challenge. The report and the award are based on the Darien Police Departments 2007 traffic safety efforts as a whole, and this 1st Place Award is one that we received as a complete department. The Darien Police Traffic Division intends to enter this competition on a yearly basis.