Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney continues to stand by Police Chief Dave Zibolski in light of recent scrutiny.
Zibolski was contentious with reporters at a news conference last week following two shooting incidents in the city in the early morning hours of Sunday, August 3. It later came to light a violent assault took place downtown that same night, unrelated to the shootings. Zibolski became defensive when pressed on why it took 36 hours to address the media after the incidents. Two city commissioners, Dave Piepkorn and Michelle Turnberg, have called for his resignation.
But Mayor Mahoney says he believes in Zibolski, and that the police department has made great strides under his leadership. Despite what’s happened this month, violent crime overall is down in Fargo. And the Mayor says they are moving forward with a reworked media strategy.
"In the future, if the chief is out of town, he will tell me who is in command at the time. Second, we will do communication with the press in a more timely fashion, we'll sit down and come up with the policy. Mike Redlinger and I will get the policy out here we feel will address the issues the press may have, and have more timely information for the community and the press as well."
The Mayor also says in the future, more lieutenants being available will help those aims of having more point people ready to meet with the press.
Zibolski acknowledges he reacted in an uncharacteristic manner after a bad day. But he also says his body of work in his nearly five years as chief has proven effective, and after productive talks with the Mayor easy fixes are already being implemented. He says he’s asking the public to be receptive to how they conduct their investigations while getting essential information out.
"While we may get information out quicker, depending on the circumstances, we may not be able to tell you certain details or many of the details. And that's very different in terms of one person hurting someone else, and we've got everyone in custody and there isn't that much to do in terms of what we can say, versus something like the last couple of weekends where we have myriads of people, different groups involved, people we haven't even fully identified and all of that - in terms of pushing out anything that could in any way compromise an investigation, or bring into question the voracity of a potential suspect's statement, or a witness statement."
Fargo Police Captain Troy Hannig has worked in law enforcement eighteen years. He says the department has made meaningful advancement over the past five years, from technology, training and retention, to overall wellness. Hannig says the department’s wellness program was instrumental in healing after Officer Jake Wallin was killed on duty in 2023.
"If you look at what we're doing in that realm, it's far better than anything we've ever done. And we're also more intentional about, if there is a traumatic event that happens - we have a peer support team that is going to reach out to that person, and check on them. Just see how they're doing. We're so much better at that. And over the years, we've had a peer support team, but the way that team is functioning now is far superior to anything we've ever done before."
Police are still working to locate Tyrque Jones, who was named as a suspect in the downtown Fargo shooting on August 3rd that killed one man and wounded two others. Suspects in the south Fargo shooting and downtown assault have been arrested.