Community News
Get Involved: Help make your community safer!
Are you worried about drugs, alcohol, prostitution or other illegal activities in your building or on your street? The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) Investigation Unit gives you a way to safely report your concerns to help stop the activity.
Residents can call SCAN and confidentially report problem residences and buildings. Property owners will
be held accountable for illegal activities that regularly take place on their property related to:
- Producing, selling or using illegal drugs
- Prostitution
- Unlawful sale or manufacture of alcohol
- Use, sale or consumption of an intoxicating substance
- Unlawful activities linked to organized crime
- Child sexual abuse/exploitation
- Unlawful gaming activities
- Possession of illegal firearms or explosives
SCAN investigators can also order landlords to remove building fortifications that may cause safety concerns, such as barred windows and steel-plate doors.
Will I have to give my name?
You will have to identify yourself to SCAN when filing a complaint, but your name will never be released.
Will I have to testify in court?
No, you will not be required to attend court. Any complaints that end up in court are handled by SCAN
investigators and will not identify you.
How does it work?
If you are suspicious of a property in your neighbourhood, don’t investigate it yourself or approach the occupants. Call SCAN immediately at 1-877-826-2122, or email .
Once a complaint is launched, an investigation by SCAN will determine if there is enough evidence to support the claim. If the investigation shows evidence of an illegal activity, SCAN investigators may:
- Resolve the issue informally, through a visit to the property owner, or by issuing a warning letter;
- Apply for a Community Safety Order, which allows them to close the property entirely for up to 90 days.
What kinds of property can be investigated?
Properties that can be investigated include structures, businesses, houses, apartments, suites, mobile homes, or parcels of land.
What happens when a Community Safety Order is issued for a property?
The owner is served with a Community Safety Order, and a copy is posted on the property. It orders the owner to shut down the property.
What happens to people living in a property that is shut down?
When a property is closed, all occupants must leave it immediately.
SCAN also works closely with social and community agencies to ensure other arrangements can be made for those affected by a building closure.
Common signs of illegal activity:
- Frequent visitors at all hours of the day and night
- Frequent late-night activity
- Windows blackened or curtains always drawn
- Visitors with expensive vehicles
- Unfriendly people who seem secretive about their activities
- People watching cars suspiciously as they pass by
- Extensive investment in home security
- Garbage that contains numerous bottles and containers, particularly chemical containers
- Neglected property and yard
You can make a difference!
What New Brunswickers are saying about SCAN:
“As a property owner, SCAN has been very helpful in ensuring my building is safe and my tenants have a safe neighbourhood.”
“I would say this definitely improved my family’s quality of life as well as my neighbours on this street. My neighbours have said they feel safer and more comfortable now. We are finally enjoying our home and our property with comfortable peaceful surroundings thanks to the SCAN investigation team.”
To report a problem property in your neighbourhood, call 1-877-826-2122 or email .