Fargo Police working to reduce downtown disturbances

"Fourth avenue and Broadway is a hotpots right now."

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Fargo Police and the Downtown Community Partnership are discussing concerns over violence in the heart of downtown.

Fargo Police addressed concerns over panhandling, aggravated assault and the terrorizing of people.

“We have about half that are in the daytime hours and half are about the bar close hours. The daytime ones tend to be in group fights of people that know each other that get into an argument and it’s usually one punch. The bar close ones tend to be alcohol driven, fights,” Fargo Police Sergeant Brent Halverson said.

Concerns about over serving of alcohol from specific businesses came from members of the Downtown community partnership, which the department says officers are always on the lookout for those types of scenarios.

“If we have reason to believe that the individual was over-served, they’re failing to take care of themselves, somebody we feel shouldn’t be served. The first step is to confirm where they were consuming the alcohol at. By recording that we do police reports and look at establishment forms for violations. Officers will go into the establishment and investigate those instances as they arise,” said Halverson.

Halverson says although handing out citations and jail time are helpful in reducing these types of scenarios, the plan is to formulate an action plan that involves various parts of the community to work together.

“We’re trying to figure out how we get everybody at the table that can contribute to resolving this issue. The ambulance service, the ER’s, mental health service, the police department, harm reduction center, there’s just endless different aspects this affects,” added Halverson.

Other plans to help combat the disturbances included increased patrols in more trafficked areas throughout downtown.

“Fourth avenue and Broadway is a hotpots right now. So we’re going to put additional officers in that area with specific crime attention details to try and combat some of those things,” said Halverson.

Police Chief Zibolski said he’s looking at possibly incorporating Segways so officers can get up and down the street quicker.