Peer support group helps grieving Fargo officers after fatal ambush

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Grief is still in the air at the Fargo Police Headquarters as officers continue to work through the emotions and pain after the fatal shooting of Officer Jake Wallin on July 14. 

“The general feel around here is that of grief, also that of healing,” said Cpt. Bill Ahlfeldt. “Moving on and remembering and memorializing Jake the best we can.”

One of the ways to manage those emotions and helping officers behind the scenes is their peer support groups. Over the years, this has changed, but one thing has stayed the same, these peer groups are based off of trust.

“That’s something that we’ve ingrained in our culture over the last 20 years,” said Cpt. Ahlfeldt. “When I started around that time we were just starting to get that brought in. The younger officers are usually more receptive to it and the older officers because they have never seen it before weren’t as receptive to it. It’s taken a long time for us to build trust with officers that maybe didn’t understand what was going on or didn’t want to talk about what was going on. It’s taken a long time to build that trust.”

Cpt. Ahlfeldt said they inform officers that it isn’t a sign of weakness to express your emotions, especially since they deal with a lot of stress through their work.

“In those conversations we receive help and we allow ourselves to be healthier” said Cpt. Ahlfeldt. “The change I’ve seen is that talking about experiences that we’ve had, traumatic experiences has become more accepted. And officers are more willing to do that.”

Ahlfeldt said it’s not just their peer support groups, but other agencies in the metro area that stepped up to help this grieving group.

“The Fargo Police Department is incredibly grateful that we not only work in partnership with our agencies in the metro area but they are so helpful, so willing to reach out, so willing to work together.” said Cpt. Ahlfeldt.