Fargo Police Chief speaks on rebuilding of traffic safety unit and what the city needs

(Fargo, ND) -- Fargo Police are adding six additional officers with the overall goal of reducing traffic related incidents across the city. 

The Fargo Police Department credits a federal grant of $750,000 in allowing the city to pursue hiring six officers for the Traffic Safety Unit. The department will be partially funded by city tax dollars and will be fully absorbed into the Police budget once the three year grant ends. 

The officers will primarily serve with the purpose of proactively reducing traffic related incidents and other dangerous driving. The new team will still respond to calls for assistance, but will focus largely on education, accident response, patrolling high-incident areas, and related topics. 

"It will be a new arm[...]" said Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski when asked if the department will consist of current or new employees, "[...]We will now have a full time unit dedicated to that position."

Speaking on the number of employees in the police department at large, Zibolski said they hope to have an estimated 1.6 offices per 1,000 people in the city. That rounds out to 215 officers for all of Fargo, compared to the current number of 192 once the grant funded employees are included in the total. He continued by saying more officers are needed in multiple departments, not only in the Traffic Safety Unit.