The police chief spoke to the Fairfield Hills Authority members last month about a recent study to address and reduce the number of incidents among the vacant buildings. Trespassers will often attempt to get inside the old state hospital buildings, or enter tunnels below that were used to transport patients, for one.

Chief Kehoe’s department has been searching for “short-term, inexpensive” means to resolve the problems of thrill-seekers who enter the dark grounds at night, drawn by the buildings’ former function as a state psychiatric facility.

“The issue will continue,” he said, as long as the buildings and grounds remain unsecured. A crime prevention team has determined a low-cost, but labor-intensive proposal, which he discussed with authority members during an executive session.

“Obviously if we have people coming from out of town to break in, we don’t want to give away our weaknesses,” said FHA Chairman John Reed, who added that he “appreciates Chief Kehoe stepping up with the crime analysis.”

When the town first purchased the former state hospital property, Mr Reed said, “There was the assumption that there was the town, then there was Fairfield Hills. Fairfield Hills must be a regular part of the town of Newtown.”

A greater number of residents have been traveling through the campus on renamed and, in places, reconfigured roads since several openings: Newtown Youth Academy within the last two years, a new baseball diamond, and most recently, the Newtown Municipal Center, which handles town business, and trails.

Past authority members’ discussions have included requests to the police for increased patrols through the grid of streets winding through the large brick façades.