Fargo, N.D. – More than a week after two deadly shootings, the fallout from how information was handled, and a string of other cases of violence, a trio of Fargo city leaders made themselves available to local media on Tuesday to talk about the future of the police department.
Mayor Doctor Tim Mahoney, Police Chief David Zibolski and City Administrator Michael Redlinger sat down with Flag Family News for an interview at police headquarters.
“We feel well served by our police force,” said Mahoney. “I feel Chief Zibolski is doing a good job.”
After private conversations this week with Zibolski, Mahoney says changes are being made in how they communicate with the public about violent crime.
And the mayor signaled he has no plans to remove Zibolski.
“He had a bad day in front of the press and I think we’ve learned from that,” said Mahoney, referring to an August 4th press conference that came some 36 hours after shootings leaving two dead and two hurt.
“We want to go forward and try to find out what works for the public, the press and our community that gets the information out there.”
Listen: Fargo’s mayor, police chief and city administrator speak to Flag Family News Director Ken Duffy
Zibolski has previously said he was out of town on the day of the shootings, but came under criticism for not speaking publicly at some point that Sunday.
Instead, written statements from both Zibolski and Mahoney were issued some 15 hours later.
Mahoney says they’ve come up with a three month plan in conjunction with the city administrator on how to reshape policy when it comes to communicating with the press.
From now on, Mahoney says if the chief is out of town, he’ll be made aware of “who the first command is” to further communicate with that person during similar situations.
Mahoney says they’re also discussing the possibly of having police lieutenants issue reports on their shifts to get information out quicker.
“There’s a strong commitment to continue to do the things we need to do to keep a safe community,” said Mahoney.
Zibolski says he’s “taking ownership” of how the August 4th press conference played out, but is now focused on “making progress going forward.”
“Overall we’ve had positive relationships with the media and we want to keep the community informed,” said Zibolski.
Zibolski says there are “a lot of quality people who can fill that role” in relaying information to the public if he’s not available.
“Our goal is hearing the community and the media is to get information out quicker, but there has to also be that mutual understanding that there are things we can’t divulge at that point in time.”
Redlinger also acknowledged some of the public’s criticism.
“We heard loud and clear that there are members of the media as well as the public that have a higher expectation for timely information and briefings.”
More about police chief’s whereabouts on August 3rd
Flag Family News asked Zibolski, who already said he was out of town in Florida, if he had any regret about not coming back to Fargo that day to work on the shootings.
“I did come back on Sunday and that’s the flight that I had back,” said Zibolski. “It wasn’t a vacation.”
Zibolski said he was “communicating throughout the whole day from the 2am start [of the first shooting] by phone, text and email.”
“I had a flight that came back and got delayed along the way and got back at around 9, 9:15 at night,” Zibolski added.
“A lot of the things that I do, even work related travel with the IACP [International Association of Chiefs of Police] is over the weekends and I’m working and traveling as I go so that’s not unusual at all.”
Asked a follow-up question about whether or not his return flight was preplanned before the shootings, Zibolski again acknowledged he was “already going to be back Sunday” and confirmed the flight departed at 3pm.
“Clearly getting something out through other means was a better process,” said Zibolski. “My assistant chief, my commanders and lieutenants can certainly fill that gap if I’m not able to.”
“He’s bringing crime down”
Mahoney defended the decision to move forward with Zibolski by saying the public should look at the chief’s “whole body of work” since coming on board in 2020.
“This department has made great strides in the last five years,” said Mahoney, who called Zibolski a “change agent.”
“I’ve seen several police chiefs asked to resign because they made some mistake. It’s very common that people do that.”
Mahoney also likened the situation to his own experience in the medical field.
“I’ve been chief of surgery and often times, one of my surgeons can make a mistake,” said Mahoney. “At that time, you correct the mistake. You have to talk to the surgeon and talk about what happened.”
“They’re a good surgeon and talented in what they do, but it’s how we interact with other people that have to be corrected.”
Mahoney also credited Zibolski for creating ten hour shifts for officers that “made lives better” and establishing a police academy.
“He’s bringing crime down,” said Mahoney. “The traffic team is bringing arrests in. The things that we’ve asked him to do he’s doing.”
Mahoney also says police department vacancy rates “used to be 15 to 20 percent”, but are now down to 3 percent in 2025.
“We’re able to recruit people,” said Mahoney. “We’re becoming one of the police forces in the community that people look at as a leader of what’s going on.”
More community meetings?
Flag Family News also asked if the police department is considering holding in-person neighborhood meetings to foster more engagement with communities.
“That’s something that’s on our agenda,” said Zibolski. “That is on our docket going forward to do just that.”
This year, the Police Oversight and Advisory Board decided to dissolve and reform into a private group of citizens to advise Zibolski.
Two years ago, Zibolski said his department held several town hall events about traffic safety meeting with neighborhoods and communities that led to creation of the traffic safety team.
Overall, Zibolski has a message to anyone who might doubt his ability to lead the department.
“I’m committed to the city of Fargo and our department. I don’t want the community to have any doubt about that commitment.”
