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The City of Saint John says the first two months of a community safety pilot program have shown positive results.
“Anecdotally, we’re hearing very good things from businesses,” said Benn Purinton, the city’s manager of community standards compliance.
Purinton spoke with reporters following Tuesday night’s council meeting, where he presented early results of the project aimed at addressing business concerns about crime and public safety.
“They’re very happy with the service and appreciative that the council implemented it.”
The service, called the Community Safety Services Team, began operating in February and is meant to respond to non-emergency calls.
Within the first month, a staff report submitted to council says the response team recorded 93 public assists — such as removing people from business entrances or addressing public disturbances — responded to 69 service calls and carried out 109 wellness checks.
Of these, the report says, nine matters were escalated to police or emergency services, two of which were medical emergencies.
“These early results demonstrate that the team is performing as expected,” Purinton said.
Saint John businesses have faced crime-related challenges and have pushed for more action since 2024. They say the issues — including thefts, property damage, and vandalism — stem from the city’s homelessness.
The Community Safety Services Team consists of guards from GardaWorld.
The firm is paid $780,000 a year to respond to certain incidents in the uptown. Two officers work per shift.
The city describes the two-year pilot project as a “24/7, non‑police community safety presence” in the uptown, Waterloo Village, and the Thorne Avenue-Rothesay Avenue corridor.
Less strain on the police
Purinton said the data shows that most matters are being handled without police involvement.
One of the plan’s objectives was, according to a staff report submitted to council, to respond to “nuisance and public disorder concerns without unnecessarily drawing on police resources.”
“[Results] indicate that a visible presence and voluntary compliance first approach can resolve many lower-level concerns effectively while supporting police capacity to focus on higher priority items,” Purinton said.
He said winter posed some challenges for the team.
“It’s been one of our intentions to have the team on foot as much as possible,” he said.
“The winter has made it more difficult to do that. So as we get into the spring, we’re looking to increase the amount of foot patrols that we do.”
Purinton said the city is also anticipating an increase in demand for the team in the spring.
Saint John police recently said the city has seen a 24 percent decrease in property-related crime, including thefts and other business-related offenses.
Pilot still in early stages
Following his address, Coun. Gary Sullivan asked Purinton if the staff on the safety team had been involved in any physical altercations, to which Purinton said they had not.
Coun. Paula Radwan asked if the pilot could be extended to other parts of the city, specifically naming the north end. She said she’s been getting calls about an uptick in criminal activity there.
Purinton said the current scope of the project, being a pilot, only encompassed the uptown.
“There could be potential opportunities for us to expand, but right now we need to go slow before we go fast,” added Amy Poffenroth, the city’s growth and community services commissioner.
Poffenroth said a GardaWorld pilot in Fredericton, addressing the same challenges, helped the Saint John pilot run more smoothly in its early months, with fewer “growing pains.”
“So we are further along after two months than we thought we would be,” she said.
At the March 23 meeting, Coun. Greg Norton introduced a notice of motion to require regular reporting to the city’s public safety committee about the pilot project.
Councilors voted in favor of Norton’s proposal.
The safety team already provides reports for the city council, with Tuesday’s being the first.
The motion would specifically require it to report to the city’s public safety committee, which reviews reports, including fire and police reports, and brings recommendations on safety-related issues to council.
While the safety team has visited businesses in the city core, Purinton said the next phase of the pilot will be to “broaden awareness of the service through a targeted mail-out.”
This, he said, will help residents and businesses better understand the purpose of the services and how and when to contact them.
“The goal is to increase appropriate demand while … continuing to minimize confusion with police and other services,” he said.
A more detailed review will be presented to the city’s public safety committee at the end of April.
