SCAN FOCUSES ON RIDDING NEIGHBOURHOODS OF BAD HOUSES

Introducing Moose Javians to a new way of dealing with a bad
neighbour was Tom Fulcher of the Saskatchewan government's Safer
Communities and Neighbourhood Unit (SCAN).

Fulcher was the guest speaker at a luncheon hosted by the Moose Jaw
South-Central Regional Intersectoral Committee Wednesday at the
Prairie South School Division's board office.

The 45-minute talk explained the purpose of the unit, the types of
situations it is usually faced with and its solutions to cleaning up
a community one neighbourhood at a time.

Fulcher said what the unit does is clean up properties that are
negatively affecting a community.

He said whether there is drugs, prostitution, violence or gangs, when
a complaint is made, SCAN will go in, investigate, determine whether
there is an actual issue, if there is, seize the property in question
and evict those currently occupying it.

" We don't target the bad guys . . . we target the house. You can
always get a bad guy out of a drug house but the drug doesn't close
down. They just put another bad guy in the drug house and the drugs
keep getting sold."

Fulcher said his unit leaves the arrests up to the police, He doesn't
really care if those people living in the residences SCAN is focusing
on get arrested - just that the house is gone.

"If the house (that is causing the neighbourhood problems) is gone,
then the neighbourhood is safer because of that."

Fulcher said the majority of the complaints his unit receives come
from the community.

"I really believe people are aware of what is going on in their
neighbourhood . . . you know they live there 24 hours a day, so they
are aware if something has changed or if something is not right," said Fulcher.

" We really put a lot of weight on their ability to recognize
something out of the norm."

Fulcher said Moose Jaw is one of the unit's most pro-active communities.

He said the majority of the complaints streaming from the Friendly
City are with regard to drugs.

Fulcher said his unit is aware that what it is doing is not going to
stop drugs in Moose Jaw. However, it is going to make one
neighbourhood at a time safer.

For more information on SCAN visit www. saskjustice.gov.sk.ca/ Safer
Communities.