New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski spoke to the New Canaan Police Commission on June, 15, 2022.

NEW CANAAN — Police Chief Leon Krolikowski is looking to add an officer at the elementary schools in response to the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

He proposed paying for the additional officer with a change to the department's original American Rescue Plan Act request.

If approved, the department would add to its police coverage at the town’s three elementary schools and private schools. The department already employs school resource officers for New Canaan High School and Saxe Middle School.

“Everybody is very much aware of what happened in Texas, and other places, so it is the time to be really more cautious and thoughtful and less complacent in months from now, years from now,” the chief said.

Krolikowski estimated that the new officer would increase school checks to thousands a year. “It will only enhance security,” he said.

The police commission voted unanimously to support the $108,000 request. With the added officer, each lower school would be checked on as many as 16 times.

“Given what happened in Uvalde and concerns in our community about school safety and security, I reframed and thought about the requests,” the chief said.

He said he spoke with New Canaan Schools Superintendent Bryan Luizzi and “he's very supportive of it and I think it will be a great initiative.”

Krolikowski agreed to speak with the headmaster's at the private schools, such as St. Luke’s and St. Aloysius, to make sure they are comfortable with the increased control. “If people aren't used to seeing police cars driving around the schools, it can create anxiety,” he said.

After the APRA allocation is used up this year, the chief expects to ask for money for the position in the next annual budget to continue the initiative under a specific line item “related to school security and safety.”

Krolikowski explained that, on each of the 180 days of the school year, an officer would be dedicated to checking the schools, however, the department would rotate different officers to keep with union rules.

The chief had previously asked to use the ARPA funds to pay for such items as public education, a portable fingerprinting device and secure cabinets. New Canaan has received $6 million from the federal program that is providing $350 billion in pandemic-related emergency funding for state and local governments.

Police Commissioner James McLaughlin said he thought it would be better to have one officer become familiar with the schools. “I personally think there's a benefit to that, that if there were some sort of emergency, whether it be a shooting or something else, they know the layout of the school,” he said. “They know the people who are there.”

Krolikowski saw “pros and cons” of having the same officer cover the schools, but having another officer is “certainly going to be better than what we've done. We can evolve and change the processes as we need to make it better.”

An appoval for the ARPA request must be made to the Board of Selectmen before being considered by a small committee made of Town Council and Board of Finance members, who review all of the requests. If moved forward, the decision would go before the full membership of the Board of Finance and Town Council.

“There’s a little bit of a process involved. It's a good process. But it does take some time,” Administrative Officer Tucker Murphy said. She offered to work directly with the chief to work out scheduling.