Update (11:15am 7/2/25)
The city responded on Tuesday to a series of Flag Family News questions with written replies provided by Police Chief David Zibolski:
Can you tell me if the department has received multiple calls from business owners in the I-29 area for trespassers or shoplifting?
To determine whether the FPD has received multiple calls from business owners in the I-29 area regarding trespassing or shoplifting, an open records request is required. In order to process that request, we’ll need more specific details — including a defined area along I-29 and the date range you’d like us to search.
What is the department doing to prevent people from loitering around businesses like this?
When the FPD receives a report from a property owner, officers respond and investigate the situation. The department can only take enforcement action, including issuing trespass notices, when authorized by the private property owner. The FPD has lawful authority to trespass individuals from private property, but not from public property.
If they are homeless, and are staying out in public for long periods of time, but do not have tents or permanent structures, can they be removed based on any city ordinances including the city’s camping ban?
The FPD can only remove based on what is defined in Ordinance No. 5450, which addresses camping on public property. The full ordinance can be reviewed online by visiting https://library.municode.com/nd/fargo/ordinances/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=1311876.
(Original story)
Fargo, N.D. – Some business owners in Fargo are growing more and more concerned about what appears to be a troubling crime trend involving some members of the homeless population who are also repeat criminal offenders.
During the work week starting on Monday June 23rd, one south Fargo business owner in the Westgate section tells Flag Family he dealt with attempted shoplifting and actual shoplifting for three consecutive days that was linked to a nearby squatting situation.
Following the most recent instance on Friday June 27th, police were contacted to respond to and investigate suspicious activity in the 34-hundred block of 13th Avenue South.
The city says 38-year old Emmanuel Sloan was located inside an “unoccupied unit of a commercial site” and “closed the door behind him.”
Sloan, who has no permanent address, was arrested for criminal trespass and was transported to the Cass County Jail.
But Sloan has had quite a few run-ins with authorities lately.
According to criminal case records going back to late May, Sloan has been arrested 8 times prior to June 27th.
The charges range from criminal trespass, to having or drinking alcohol in public and shoplifting.
But no matter how many times authorities are called, business owners, who have been notifying the city about the matter since late last year, are worried that the loitering and crime will simply continue in their area.
Not only did Flag Family News request to confirm Sloan’s arrest that Friday, the city of Fargo was asked what is being done to address loitering around businesses, and if loiterers like these could removed based on other city ordinances such as the outdoor camping.
In response, the city confirmed the details of the arrest, but did not immediately answer the separate follow-up questions which would be “processed on Monday during regular business hours.”
“The request involves a data search, and the staff responsible for that work are currently unavailable for the day,” wrote the city. “We appreciate your patience.”
The business owner, who initially emailed Flag Family and did not want to be identified, did write that it is “fair to give the City’s officials a chance, at this point, to try to tackle an issue I was telling them about [since] last December.”
But City Commissioner Michelle Turnberg says Fargo is becoming known among the homeless population as a “hot spot” like Portland and Seattle where illegal drugs are readily available with lighter legal penalties.
“It’s a much bigger issue than anything the city can tackle,” Turnberg told WDAY’s The Jay Thomas Show.
Listen here: Fargo City Commissioner Michelle Turnberg
“You can get needles and access to drugs. People will take advantage.”
Turnberg also thinks the new camping ban is pushing the homeless across the city.
“They’re just moving around town because they’re not sleeping by the river,” said Turnberg.
“I have people who live across what they believe is a meth house. They see the same people on their bikes every day loaded up leaving to make the [drug] rounds and come back.”
While acknowledging that there are some members of the homeless population who are down on their luck and receive housing, Turnberg says the majority are much more difficult to address.
“What you see in the streets are the addicts and people suffering from mental illness,” said Turnberg. “Those are very hard to house.”
