Police Advisory & Oversight Board - April 13, 2023 Minutes
MINUTES
Meeting: Police Advisory & Oversight Board Regular Meeting
Date: 04.13.2023
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: City Commission Chambers
The Regular Meeting of the Police Advisory & Oversight Board of Fargo Police Department was held in the Commission Chambers at City Hall at 5:00 p.m., Thursday, April 13th, 2023.
The Police Advisory & Oversight Board members present or absent were as follows:
Present: Scott Paul (by phone), Todd Spellerberg (by phone), David Hogenson, Joanna Johnson, Conrad Thomas, Lucrachia King, Tonya Greywind.
Absent: None.
Item 1. Welcome and Introductions
Chair Johnson welcomed Members to the meeting and introductions were made.
Item 2. Approve or Amend Agenda
Vice Chair King moved the Agenda be approved as presented. Second by Member Greywind. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Item 3. Approve or Amend Minutes
Member Greywind moved the minutes of the March 9th, 2023 Police Advisory & Oversight Board meeting be approved as presented. Second by Member Thomas. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Item 4. Approve or Amend Working Session Minutes
Member Greywind moved the minutes of the March 29th, 2023 Police Advisory & Oversight Board working session be approved as presented. Second by Vice Chair King. All Members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Item 5. Public Comment Period
1. Christopher Coen spoke about the working session. He didn’t hear his comment about members of the community that may not be easily to respond to commands talked about and feels it was ignored. He thinks the City Commission should be advised to have the police look into it. He spoke of the death of Shane Netterville in July of 2022 and thinks that every tragedy should be studied to help prevent future tragedies. He suggested making a trip to Shane Netterville’s grave.
2. Victoria Jensen thanked the Board for hosting the listening session. She gave her opinion on hosting another listening session and maybe using a table talk format to improve engagement and participation and give community members more opportunity to share their input.
Item 6. Police Department Updates
1. Chief Zibolski invited the Board to the police swear‐in ceremony on Wednesday, April 19th at City Hall. Nine new officers will be sworn in , and there are a couple of promotions, as well.
2. The next police academy is set to start May 15th, and interviews and background processes are being completed for that academy.
Item 7. Board Discussion on Working Session
1. Off Site Engagement Training on the topic of Traffic Stops
a. Board discussion on a date and time.
- i. Date: May 11th, 2023.
- ii. Time: 5:00pm to 6:30pm.
- iii. Location: To be determined. Sergeant Jacobsen is looking for a location other than City Chambers.
b. Chief Zibolski gave a brief explanation of what this off‐site engagement training will look like.
2. Future Agenda Topics
a. Use of force, mental health calls for service, updates on legislation, the cri‐tac review, and hiring and recruitment were some of the main topics discussed in regards to future educational opportunities. Information on de‐ escalation would be part of the use of force presentation.
b. Agendizing beforehand so the community knows what to expect was discussed and suggested.
c. Member Greywind brought up prioritization and suggested that it be discussed at the next meeting. Member Thomas brought up that what the community believes is important should be considered as well. Member Greywind brought up the possibility of putting out a poll or have some way to allow the community to have some input.
d. The June meeting will be on use of force and de‐escalation.
Item 8. Fargo Police Department Presentation on Crime Statistics by Chief Zibolski
1. Comparison between 2021 and 2022 crime statistics.
2. Overall, crime is down 7% in Fargo when compared to 2021.
3. Crimes against persons: ‐0.2%
4. Crimes against society: ‐9%
5. Chief Zibolski explained the difference between a “shooting” and “shots fired”. A “shots fired” is an incident in which someone fires a gun but no one is hit. A “shooting” is an incident in which someone is actually hit by gunfire.
6. Crimes against property: ‐9% a. Burglaries: ‐24%
7. The current method of reporting crime statistics to the FBI is NIBRS (National Incident‐Based Reporting System), which became the standard on January 1st, 2021. The old method was summary reporting. In summary reporting, only the most serious crime in an incident was counted. NIBRS is much more robust, leading to larger numbers when comparing to years using summary reporting.
8. Clearance rate: +4%
9. Total arrests: ‐2%
a. There is an increase in juvenile arrests, but an overall decrease.
b. There is a national increase in juveniles involved in motor vehicle thefts.
10. There has been an increase of shots fired incidents, no change in number of shooting incidents.
a. If a shooting victim dies from their injuries, the case is reported as a murder and is not including in the shooting numbers.
11. There has been a decrease of murder incidents and number of victims.
a. Murder is defined as the intentional killing of one human by another. Suicide or someone accidentally shooting themselves is not included in crime statistics.
12. Mental health calls for service (analysis from 11/1/22 to 2/28/23)
a. 4% of calls for service were mental health related calls
b. 10 individuals accounted for 26% of mental health calls
c. Analyzing by number of calls for service does not account for the number of officers responding or amount of time that is spent on those calls.
d. Mental health calls often require more than one officer due to the situation, the dangerousness, and how the call is reported to the police.
13. Overdose comparisons
a. From 2021 through February of 2023, there have been 96 overdose/poisoning deaths in the city of Fargo.
b. When it comes to opioid addiction, opioids are so physiologically addicting that out‐patient treatment is not successful.
14. Future plans
a. The Police Department is currently in the process of interviewing for a civilian Victim Advocate position.
b. The Police Department is collaborating with Planning and Development on a civilian landlord/tenant position.
1. Chair Johnson asked in regards to mental health, has the Police Department been looking into a mental health response team to reduce officer contacts? Chief Zibolski responded that many of the situations, civilians can’t be sent to. To the extent that civilians can be sent out, the Police Department works with the mobile crisis and harm reduction team and has collaborations with Southeast Human Services. The available resources are exhausted because they often can’t do anything more for those in crisis, as well. The state has one facility with limited space in the middle of the state.
Item 9. Adjourn
The time at adjournment was 5:53 p.m.