Crime Is Down, Roads Are Safer in Wilton, Police Annual Report Shows

Wilton saw fewer serious crimes, fewer motor vehicle crashes, fewer DUI arrests and fewer auto thefts in 2025, according to the Wilton Police Department‘s 2025 Annual Report, which also highlights advances in technology, training and accreditation. The report also points to continuing challenges, particularly domestic violence and mental health-related calls.

“I think the annual report is a mechanism [to] summarize as best as possible what your police department is doing throughout the year and how they’re moving their public safety mission forward,” WPD Deputy Chief Rob Cipolla told GMW.

“It really is a reflection of our mission of serving and protecting Wilton, and maintaining that quality of life within the town,” he added. “That’s what our officers show up and do every day.”

GMW‘s review of the report shows clear progress in many areas. Here’s a sampling of year-over-year improvements:

• Motor vehicle crashes down 9% (and 15% below the 10-year average)
• DUI arrests down from 44 to 37
• Fatal crashes: zero
• Serious crime down 10%
• Auto thefts down nearly 50%
• Total calls for service down nearly 3%

About The Report

A May 18 press release from the department announced the 37-page report as more than just a log of police activity: “it tells the story of service, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to protecting our community.”

With its narrative summaries and dozens of graphs and charts, the report offers residents a data-driven look at crime, traffic safety and policing trends in Wilton.

The department views the report as a means to foster transparency, trust and “shared purpose” with the community. As stated in a WPD social media post:

“Beyond the numbers is the deeper mission: protecting victims, supporting those in crisis, holding offenders accountable, and preserving the quality of life that defines our Wilton community… our officers remain committed to serving with integrity, fairness, vigilance, and compassion.

This report also reflects the trust and partnership we share with our residents. Public safety is strongest when a community and its police department work together with shared purpose and mutual respect.”

Overall Metrics

● Calls for Service

The report starts with a bird’s-eye view of the total call volume into the department. In 2025, WPD logged 14,881 calls for service (CFS) — a 2.7% drop in CFS compared to 2024 and after four years of steady increases.

In contrast to Wilton Volunteer Ambulance Corps (WVAC) which reached an all-time high call volume in 2025, WPD’s CFS numbers remain below previous highs seen in 2016, 2017 (when it peaked at 16,275) and 2018.

WPD tracks two types of service calls: citizen-generated (such as 911 calls) and officer-initiated (the latter includes actions such as traffic stops, deterrent runs, permitting, child seat installations and other tasks).

The number of citizen-generated CFS declined in 2025 — for the fourth year in a row — to 6,591. That’s down from 6,730 in 2024; 6,934 in 2023; and 6,973 in 2022 — a 5.5% reduction in citizen-generated CFS over the past four years, despite growth in the town during that time.

Cipolla stopped short of celebrating the CFS reduction, pointing out that a significant storm or other event can quickly change the trend. And even more noteworthy, he said the precise CFS number is not necessarily an indicator of time or effort spent by officers.

“The calls for service numbers were down year-over-year, [but] there was an additional 156 hours that the officers spent on scene on citizen-generated calls for service,” he said.

● Hours On Scene

As Cipolla explained, some calls are resolved quickly, while others consume more time, manpower or both. The department’s data on hours spent “on scene” — broken down by call type in the chart below — reveals just how varied officers’ time investment can be.

In 2025, 2,786 routine traffic stops were the single largest category by both incident count and total time — a number that does not include 1,298 traffic stops in more targeted efforts, described in the report as “strategic enforcement initiatives” driven by citizen complaints, areas of high crash frequency, and grant programs for distracted driving, DUI, and speed enforcement.

However, motor vehicle accidents (especially with injuries), domestic violence calls and crisis intervention all require more officers per call and far more time on scene than the incident count alone might suggest. Domestic violence calls, for example, require three officers on average, and more time on scene than most other types of incidents — putting the 43 such calls in a very different light, tied for the fifth most time-consuming type of call for the department.

Regardless of the call type, Cipolla emphasized the hours on scene do not tell the whole story.

“What is harder to track is the amount of time the officers then spend in follow-up, whether they’re report-writing or investigative follow-up,” he said. “We have cases sometimes that span over a year.”

“Especially in today’s day and age… your property type crimes, specifically larceny fraud-related investigations, take a lot of time,” he said. “They’re not open-and-shut cases, there’s a lot of research and search warrants and record requests, and connecting dots to get to a final outcome.”

The GOOD News for Public Safety

The year showed a pattern of progress on a variety of public safety measures moving in the right direction.

● Motor Vehicle Crashes

In 2025, 367 motor vehicle crashes were reported on Wilton roadways — a 9% decrease from 2024. Before the pandemic, Wilton consistently had more than 400 accidents per year in Wilton. The 367 crashes in 2025 were not only lower than the previous three years, but 15% below the 10-year average (433) — and nearly as low as the pandemic shutdown era.

Cipolla said he believes the department’s traffic enforcement and education efforts have helped keep the crash numbers below average.

On the ultimate road safety measure, there were no fatal crashes in Wilton in 2025 — for the second consecutive year.

“You don’t want to see serious injuries and lives lost on our roadways, so those are good achievements for the year,” Cipolla said.

It’s a knock-on-wood moment. Some residents are expressing concerns about road safety in 2026, as bridge reconstruction getting underway in Cannondale and Honey Hill Rd. forces changes to traffic patterns which they fear will increase the risk of accidents. [GMW will be reporting on that topic soon.]

● DUI Arrests

The number of DUI arrests also decreased in 2025. There were 37 DUI arrests in Wilton in 2025 — down from 44 cases seen in 2024. However, they remain at the second highest level since 2020.

● Group A Offenses

In the serious “Group A” offense category (assault, robbery, fraud, theft and other major offenses), crime in Wilton fell 10% in 2025, from 272 to 245. The biggest driver was a 12% decline in property crimes, which continue to make up the majority of serious crimes in Wilton.

One particularly notable reversal: auto thefts dropped nearly in half, from 23 in 2024 down to 12 in 2025. Cipolla considered that “a good achievement” but cautioned that the number still remains higher than historical levels.

He also flagged financial and fraud-related crimes as a perennial challenge — especially now as criminals are increasingly using AI to make scams more convincing than ever.

“The financial fraud investigations — identity theft, wire fraud — are a lot of what we deal with,” he said. “The fraudsters, you know, they’re always evolving. When you get those calls or emails or text messages… don’t be so quick to react. Talk it over with someone you trust. Call us — we can tell you pretty quickly if it’s not legitimate.”

● Use of Force

Another notable data point in the report is the near absence of officers’ use-of-force. In 2025, 99.3% of all arrests and 99.98% of public interactions involved no use of force.

There were just three incidents in which a WPD officer used force — one crisis intervention, one stolen vehicle, and one breach of peace case. All three were reviewed internally and found to be within WPD policy. No complaints of excessive force were received in 2025.

More Advances

In addition to the favorable trends on crime, accidents and other statistics, the WPD made a number of other advances during the year.

● Technology

The department completed the rollout of fixed automated license plate readers (ALPR) at 11 key locations throughout Wilton. Cipolla sees the technology as a game-changer.

“We immediately started seeing impacts [on] investigative work,” he said, noting the technology was instrumental in 40 case outcomes, including three stolen vehicle recoveries and 13 arrests in Wilton. ALPR data was also credited for helping locate a woman missing from Wilton in 2024.

“This has really been huge in terms of advancing our public safety mission and serving and protecting the town of Wilton,” he said. “In cases where we’d be without a lead, we can now pivot on some of the objective evidence we get from those cameras to build a case.”

Cipolla says the ability for law enforcement agencies to share ALPR data is particularly valuable.

“Crime holds no boundaries,” he said. “The best tool in fighting crime is the ability for us to work with our partner law enforcement agencies, whether that’s local, state, and federal, and being able to work collaboratively, sharing information that we each have, and not keeping in our respective silos.”

In one case cited in the annual report, the WPD received an ALPR alert from an outside law enforcement agency about a vehicle tied to an organized theft ring. Wilton officers located the vehicle in Wilton and arrested two suspects in the process of a theft. The investigation then uncovered fentanyl inside the vehicle. The suspects were charged with larceny, conspiracy, and possession of a controlled substance.

GMW asked Cipolla about privacy concerns about ALPR among the public.

“Certainly we understand those privacy concerns,” Cipolla said. “Our job is to advance our public safety mission within the frames of the Constitution, and this is a tool that accomplishes that. It’s capturing license plates in public spaces.”

In Connecticut, privacy concerns have led to new state legislation that will rein in potential misuse of ALPR, starting Oct. 1. The new law signed by Governor Lamont on May 6 enacts the following, among other guardrails:

• sets a 21-day limit on ALPR data retention unless certain conditions are met (such as an active criminal investigation)
• specifically prohibits the use of ALPR systems for investigating immigration violations
• places restrictions on ALPR contracts between agencies and private vendors
• requires new reporting by law enforcement agencies on their ALPR activities

● Tier III Accreditation

In March 2025, the WPD achieved Connecticut’s Tier III accreditation — more than one year ahead of the state mandate deadline for obtaining the highest certification level for police agencies. The three-tier framework was established in Connecticut’s sweeping 2020 police accountability legislation.

“It starts with policies and training to enforce that policy,” Cipolla explained. “Then you have to provide proofs — that not only do you have a policy in writing, but [proof] that you’ve actually implemented it,” Cipolla said.

“It doesn’t mean the work’s over,” he added. “Every year you have to maintain it.”

● FBI Training

Deputy Chief Cipolla also made department history in 2025, becoming the 10th Wilton police officer ever to graduate from the FBI National Academy — an elite program at the FBI’s Quantico, Virginia campus.

“I’m completely grateful for the opportunity. It was just a remarkable experience,” Cipolla said. “After 20 years in the job, it was a great opportunity to refresh and recharge your battery, and get mission-focused again.”

Crisis Response

Another particularly challenging aspect of WPD’s work involves responding to residents in mental health crisis — calls that require a different kind of training and response. The goal of WPD’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is “to facilitate safe resolutions to crisis situations for all parties involved: officers, community, and persons in crisis.”

The WPD handled 45 CIT calls in 2025 — with teenagers accounting for the single largest share. Fully half of all CIT calls were for residents under the age of 30.

Of those 45 calls, officers completed 28 Police Request for Emergency Examination (PREE) forms, which allow police to transport individuals with psychiatric disabilities to a hospital for emergency evaluation when there is reasonable cause to believe they pose a danger to themselves or others.

The WPD also filed eight Risk Protection Orders under Connecticut’s “red flag” law, which allows officers to petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed an immediate risk of harming themselves or others.

The 2025 number of CIT calls, PREE and red flag actions were roughly the same as 2024.

Other Findings

One of the report’s most sobering findings occurred behind closed doors.

Domestic violence continued to account for a significant share of police activity in 2025, with family violence arrests representing nearly one in four arrests made in Wilton during the year.

GOOD Morning Wilton will take a closer look at the report’s domestic violence findings — and the resources available to victims and families — in a separate story Tuesday.