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Fargo police to review communications policy and add lieutenants after recent violent incidents
Summary
Police leaders said they will revise media communications and add three lieutenants to improve on-shift command and expedite public information after a recent string of violent incidents.
The Fargo Police Department said it will revise its communications policy and plans to add three lieutenants next year to provide 24/7 shift command and better handle public information after a week of violent incidents.
The moves aim to make information reach the public faster and to ensure a shift commander is available at all times, officials said.
Chief (name not provided) told reporters the department created a 9 a.m. press conference last Saturday to provide updates and that leaders held executive-level discussions afterward about speeding information to the public. The chief said saturation patrols and the real-time crime center helped arrest a bank robbery suspect quickly and that those tools are central to the department’s response.
On staffing, the chief said the department is proposing to add three lieutenants next year. “We’re adding 3 lieutenants next year because we don't have a lieutenant on duty 24/7, which is an absolute necessity for a department of our size,” the chief said. The chief said a lieutenant in the shift-commander role would enable sergeants to remain on the street while the lieutenant handled information and coordination.
Regarding media relations, a staff member involved in communications said the department is reviewing and rewriting its communications policy with the chief and the communications team to produce a policy “that works for the press.” The chief invited journalists to suggest methods and said the department could provide more frequent informal briefings by lieutenants or commanders when appropriate.
Officials said the city’s recent events — the Red River Valley Farmers Market, Pride events and a highly attended street fair — saw no significant incidents, and they contrasted that with a cluster of violent acts that occurred elsewhere in the city. The chief emphasized that most of the violent events involved known individuals and feuds rather than random attacks.
The department requested feedback from media on briefing frequency and format and said it would consider daily or frequent briefings if incidents required it.
