Commissioners talk about police chief search but stay quite on potential litigation
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Fargo city leaders gathered before tonight’s city commission meeting in a closed door session with the city attorney to discuss the potential for a lawsuit from Angela Lipps.
The 50-year-old Tennessee woman was identified as a suspect in a bank fraud case in Fargo and jailed for nearly six months.
Police used facial recognition software and the AI system mistakenly flagged Lipps.
She has lived in north-central Tennessee her entire life and never set foot in North Dakota, until she was arrested and transferred to Cass County Jail last year.
The charges were dropped on Christmas Eve.
The closed door session was never brought up during tonight’s open meeting, but one man got up to give his opinion on the matter.
“And first of I just find it ridiculous that no one said anything about that. And I just want to reiterate how embarrassing this is to the city. My God is that what we want Fargo to be known as nationally, that we kidnap grandmas from another states using an AI algorithm. It’s going to be costly to taxpayers,” said Bradley Foster of Fargo.
Entities typically do not discuss pending or current litigation.
A GoFundMe account to help Lipps after she says she lost everything is at over $25,000.
Commissioners are also looking into the hiring process to find a new police chief.
David Zibolski announced last week that he will retire on March 27 after nearly five years in Fargo and more than 40 years in law enforcement.
City administration is recommending Assistant Chief Travis Stefonowicz to become the interim chief.
They want to start considering applicants in mid-June but commissioners want to delay that process until at least July when the new mayor and commission are seated.
Commissioner Dave Piepkorn said, “I think your choice for an interim is excellent but I don’t think we should have the existing mayor and liaison involved in the new hiring. So I think we should move it all back until we get the two new commissioners seated and the new mayor and then start the position because I think that would be the best way going forward.”
Commissioner John Strand also weighed-in saying, “Only two of us will be here potentially after June and mayor you’ve been at the table as a liaison for years and years, two police chiefs maybe three. And we have somebody new coming to the table to be mayor, whoever that will be. So I’m just not in favor of expediting this when we don’t know who’s going to be who. ”
Mayor Mahoney says they will take a change in the timeline under advisement and come back with a new time table.
