Police increasing downtown patrols in Downtown Fargo

Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner says his department will be helping aid Fargo Police on Friday and Saturday nights after bar time.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — The Fargo Police Department and Downtown Community Partnership are discussing recent crime activity in the downtown area.

Fargo Police along with the Cass County Sheriff discussed ways to make downtown Fargo safer. A recent report of shots fired from a rooftop early Sunday morning lead to a shelter in place overnight.

“Some of the takeaways that we’ve discussed at this point would be securing fire escape ladders as well as other roof access points. The only thing we can do to limit people’s ability to climb up to these roofs or these other areas that we might consider sensitive are the fewer points of access we have to rooftops will keep all of us safer,” Fargo Police Officer Matt Niemeyer said.

Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner says his department will be helping aid Fargo Police on Friday and Saturday nights after bar time. There’s been an increase in calls for service during that time.

“It allows us to come downtown and work together with you as a business and the citizens that build that relationship with you. It also allows us to come down and build relationships with the individuals that are patronizing those establishments. That’s a very important mission of the Cass County sheriff’s office is to build those relationships and I think it shows individuals that we’re all willing to work collaboratively to solve problems,” Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner said.

Other areas of concern include the homeless population which one homeless outreach coordinator says it’s not just a police issue, but a community issue.

“We can get folks housed, then they’re not existing downtown and they’re not as problematic, but unless we keep them housed they are just going to come back. That means stopping and having a conversation with somebody that’s on the street. If we see somebody drinking in public we’re going to tell them to put their bottle away, if we see someone passed out in a stairwell, we’re going to get them up. So, trying to respond to those situations that law enforcement doesn’t have to,” Gladys Ray Shelter Homeless Outreach Coordinator Jillian Gould said.

Sheriff Jahner says the department has added tools to help de-escalate situations such as officer training, the use of body worn cameras and non-lethal force options.