It’s that time of year! Thousands of shoppers from Connecticut and Massachusetts will be heading to Enfield’s big box stores to get presents for the holiday season.

But in doing so, you might see more of a police presence.

Enfield police say shoplifting is a year-round problem, but it increases every holiday season due to the number of shoppers who come by.

They’re upping their efforts to reduce shoplifting by doing more focused operations to catch people.

“Busy. Very busy. Crazy around here,” Heather Merrill said of Enfield’s shopping district this time of year.

“I try to shop really early in the morning, really late at night,” Kate Garrity said.

Shoppers flock to the stores to get special gifts and the best deals, but Enfield police say not everyone goes in ready to pay.

“I could not quantify how many shoplifting calls we have. It feels like we get 100 in a week,” said Sergeant Steven Austin of Enfield police.

Earlier in the week, Austin and other Enfield Community Police Officers spent the day working with stores like Kohl’s and Target, looking for shoplifters.

Austin says they chose a random day and ended up catching — and arresting — five people.

“We’re on scene with the loss prevention officer so we’re watching it ourselves on surveillance and able to apprehend the suspects right then and there,” said Austin.

Police say that of those arrested, one woman had $4,000 worth of stolen goods alone. The others stole a couple hundred dollars worth of goods.

Austin says this is the first year the community policing unit is doing focused operations against shoplifting, hoping to deter people from even trying.

We don’t want to say when and where – but we look forward to working with loss prevention again,” said Austin.

There are consequences for shoplifting in Connecticut,  such as thousands of dollars worth of fines and the potential for prison depending on how much money the stolen items are worth.

We are just past the mid-point part of the 2024 high school football season here in Connecticut and there’s no shortage of underclassmen performing at a high level. It’s no surprise that sophomores are showing out in Constitution State as that’s been the case in the past many times over. This list of underclassmen features some of the top sophomores football players we’ve seen or have been on the rise in Connecticut. Take a look at our list and vote for who you feel has been the top performing sophomores high school football player in Connecticut. 

SBLive voting polls are intended to be a fun way to create fan engagement and express support for your favorite high school athletes and teams. Unless expressly noted, there are no awards for winning the voting. Our primary focus is to highlight the abilities and accomplishments of all the athletes and teams included in our poll. You can vote as often as you wish and are encouraged to share our polls with others. The use of voting bots and other forms of automated voting are not allowed. Individuals will be removed from the poll if any form of automated voting can be verified. – SBLive Sports

Voting closes on December 8th, 11:59pm

Here are the nominees:

The signal caller has played really well through the season, completing 94-of-138 passes for 1,811 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Another sophomore signal caller that’s played really well this season is Witteman for Law and he’s put up some solid stats. Witteman has completed 127-of-205 passes for 1,586 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Sandish has played just about as well as any sophomore signal caller this season and he’s got the numbers to prove it. The sophomore has thrown for 1,255 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Though Croucher hasn’t seen as much time under center like the others ahead of him, his numbers match up pretty well. Croucher has thrown for 1,108 yards, 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Casdia has been strong out of the backfield for Glastonbury, rushing for 1,248 yards on 215 carries and scoring 14 touchdowns.

The Rockville running back has carried the rock 90 carries for 766 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. Boland is also averaging 8.5 yards per carry.

Graves has been one of the state’s top sophomore receivers this season, hauling in 61 passes for 942 yards and scoring 13 touchdowns.

The middle linebacker has been strong in the heart of the New Britain defense this season, with Mendez making 81 total tackles, four have gone for a loss and one sack.

Rivera has been a strong tackler for Crosby, making 71 total tackles and a sack so far this season.

The Greenwich linebacker has had a solid season in the front seven, totaling 70 tackles, seven going for a loss and 3.5 sacks so far this fall.

Duverce has been a menace for opposing offensive linemen this fall, with the stalwart totaling 31 total tackles, 11 have gone for a loss and seven sacks.

The sophomore defensive back has been among the leaders in the interception department, racking up four so far this season.

Follow SBLive Connecticut throughout the 2024 high school football season for Live Updates, the most up to date Schedules & Scores and complete coverage from the preseason through the state championships!

Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.

To get live updates on your phone – as well as follow your favorite teams and top games – you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App| Download Android App

— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi

CONNECTICUT — Here is Wednesday’s scoreboard for CIAC swimming divisional finals and state tournament semifinal action in boys and girls soccer and girls volleyball. Click the class headers for complete brackets.

Note: this scoreboard is updated continuously as final scores are confirmed.

GIRLS SWIMMING