City-funded survey shows favorable perception of police department among residents

FARGO — Fargo City Commissioners, and Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski, got a glimpse of survey results about crime in the city and the public’s feelings towards the Fargo Police Department.

The survey was conducted by the company Zencity, and shows Fargo police are seen in an overall positive light in the city.

The survey focuses on the topics relevant to the police department, including the public’s sense of safety in their community and the community’s relationship with police.

The survey results show that while the public’s perception of safety in their community is strong, with 80 percent of respondants saying they feel safe or mostly safe, there is a concern over traffic safety.

Traffic safety was the mention the main public safety issue for several areas of the city, with drugs and homelessness being a safety concern in other areas.

According to the survey, 64 percent of those surveyed said there are areas of the city where they don’t feel safe. However, 65 percent pointed to news reports and/or social media for the reasons they feel that way.

In the area of mental health, 38 percent of survey respondants said they didn’t think police have enough resources to handle those types of cases.

“We researched this, there’s no golden egg out there,” Zibolski said about mental health cases in the city. “But what we do need is some more significant backend services. We have people with chronic issues. We do not have facilities or services for those people, and our folks are constantly in contact with them, and that constantly causes fear and disruption in the community.”

Zibolski also says that the department plans to release updated crime numbers for the city in the coming weeks.