Selection committee unanimously recommends interim chief Travis; he outlines collaboration-first agenda

The Fargo Police chief selection committee on Monday unanimously recommended forwarding interim chief Travis’s appointment to the City Commission after a public interview in which the candidate laid out a collaboration-focused strategy for the department.

Travis, interim chief of the Fargo Police Department, told the selection panel and public listeners he plans to lead with ‘‘stability, focused on performance’’ and to prioritize listening across ranks and to community partners. ‘‘Fargo is our true north,’’ he said, framing departmental identity around the city rather than on individual leaders.

Why it matters: The committee’s endorsement moves an internal candidate to the next formal step — presentation to the City Commission on May 11 — and signals broad support for a continuity-minded approach to policing at a time the department is coping with staffing, budget and community expectations.

In a roughly two-hour public session, Travis walked the committee through his priorities: building interagency relationships, using data to guide resource allocation, protecting victim confidentiality in active cases, and improving follow-up to community concerns. He described the department as ‘‘232 problem solvers’’ and said the work should marry data and empathy: ‘‘Statistics are great... but behind each one of those numbers is a person, is a victim.’’

On staffing and budgets, Travis said personnel costs dominate the department budget and that retention — rather than recruitment alone — must be a priority. He noted that last year traffic enforcement produced about 15,000 citations and flagged the reality that 92% of the department’s budget is personnel costs. To keep people, he said, the department must focus on what it can control: shift structures, career development, wellness offerings and incremental, multi-year investment plans.

On recruitment barriers, committee members pressed him about childcare and housing; Travis said hosting local training and exploring employee-friendly childcare options could expand the hiring pool and help retain shift workers. He also raised language-access technology as a promising but subscription-costly tool for engaging residents who speak the city’s many languages.

Travis detailed the department’s wellness work — including a physical-abilities push and mental-health check-ins — and said a grant-funded wellness coordinator improved timely access to care for officers. ‘‘That opportunity wouldn’t have been available for me had it not been for the wellness program,’’ he said, describing how fast access to care can keep employees working and supported.

Committee members both praised and probed. Several said the session gave the public a useful look at the candidate’s priorities; one member warned that the public process and visible officer advocacy at earlier stages may have narrowed the candidate pool and recommended future process adjustments. At the meeting’s close, city administrator Mike Rotheringer reported the committee’s unanimous recommendation and said staff will present a short cover memo to the City Commission on May 11.

The committee’s action is a recommendation, not the final appointment; the City Commission will formally consider the nomination at its regular meeting. Until the commission votes, no employment action has been finalized.

What’s next: The recommendation will be on the City Commission agenda on May 11 for consideration, accompanied by a cover memo summarizing the selection committee’s discussion and rationale.