Saint John to pilot using private security to tackle crime

holy person john lackland is launch a two-year certificate programme to address resident and business concerns about crime and public safety. 

The program — called the Community Safety and Security Team — will bring private security guards to what city staff say are the city’s most crime-affected areas like the uptown core, Waterloo village and around local shelters.

“This is really about deterrence and a presence in those key service areas,” said Amy Poffenroth, the city's commissioner of Growth and Community Services, at a Tuesday morning announcement. 

Poffenroth said the guards won't have arrest or enforcement powers and will mostly be focused on de-escalation in non-emergency situations.

This team will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week with two guards per shift.

City officials say guards will be trained in narcan use, mental health awareness and trauma-informed practices. They will involve police, emergency or other services only when necessary. 

The guards will be provided by the security company GardaWorld. The program will start in early February and cost the city $780,000 per year. 

Pierre Castonguay said he's relieved to know his staff will have someone to call when they’re facing dangerous activity in his uptown store. 

“If we have a phone number, as a business owner, that you can call and that you have a quick response ... That's really important,” he said.

Castonguay and his partner Jenn Tuttle have dealt with criminal activity since shortly after they opened their shop, The Nest Yoga, on King Street in 2023. 

As a result, they've spent tens of thousands of dollars on extra security measures, including more staff and magnetic tags for all of their products. They were among a number of businesses who attended a town hall last year with the city police, looking for solutions to what, at the time, was a weekly problem. 

This prompted the city police to launch a quick-response foot patrol in March this year.

Businesses and the city’s Chamber of Commerce continued advocating for action on crime this year, saying the issue stems from homelessness, which has grown sharply in the city in recent years.

Poffenroth said the pilot is meant to compliment police patrols.

The problem, Castonguay said, has decreased for his shop. But he said he still had his business's front door kicked in recently, resulting in shattered glass. 

Saint John launching 2-year security pilot to address public safety concerns

“It does still happen … they tend to take advantage of the spaces that are open as well,” said Devon Miller, the manager of The Nest. 

“They're looking for a warm place to go. I do definitely see a change. It is nice that when you call the police, they come a lot faster than they ever had before.”

Nancy Tissington, executive director of Uptown Saint John, said this addition of security guards is helpful to business owners who sometimes may not wish to call the police but need support.

Castonguay said the presence — even without policing powers — makes a difference.

“It's not always about the arrest and then the prosecutions and going to court,” he said.

“For us, it’s that frontline-level staff to feel safe and secure and that they can have assistance to get patrons out of the store that shouldn't be in your store,” he said. 

The city’s rate in the crime severity index — a Statistics Canada metric measuring both number and severity of crimes — jumped by nearly 10 per cent between 2023 and 2024. Fredericton and Moncton’s rates both fell in that same time period. 

Criminology professor Michael Boudreau said private security has provided some comfort in Fredericton, but it will take more time and crime data to know whether the program will work in Saint John.

Boudreau is concerned about potential for accidental injury in events where guards might need to physically intervene in a conflict. He said there are mechanisms in place for filing formal complaints against police officers in similar circumstances.

“Unless these private security officers fall within that same definition of a peace officer, there's not a lot of accountability here,” he said.

In an emailed response, the city said training for guards around mental health and de-escalation is “intentionally structured” to reduce conflict and avoid physical intervention entirely.

City staff say situations involving injury are expected to be “extremely rare” and that the city maintains full oversight of the program, including performance standards, codes of conduct, supervision and required training. 

Boudreau says the program’s success will also depend on how it treats vulnerable people, and that targeting the homeless would only reinforce negative perceptions.

“We have criminalized homelessness and stigmatized the homeless. They're not to blame for all of the criminal activity that is occurring,” he said.

The city also launched a $250,000 fund aimed at helping businesses with the overhead that comes with new security measures or with repairs — like with Castonguay’s shop door.

He said the initiative will be a big help to businesses who will sometimes leave damages until they can afford to fix them. 

“It's money to fix, it takes time and sometimes people don't do it right away because it'll cost you money to get it done,” Castonguay said. 

The cost of the fund and the security program are both part of the city’s 2026 budget. 

Reporter

Nipun Tiwari is a reporter assigned to community engagement and based in Saint John, New Brunswick. He can be reached at nipun.tiwari@cbc.ca.

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