FARGO, N.D. – While saying public safety is great when the focus is on Downtown Fargo, the head of the Downtown Community Partnership suggested more officers might be the possible answer to make it more consistent.
“When they have put downtown in their focus, it’s been great and we’ve seen the results,” Executive Director Rocky Schneider told The Flag’s Steve Hallstrom on Friday.
“But as soon as the focus goes away from downtown, we see issues pop back up.”
Adding that he loves working with officers in the neighborhood, Schneider says it’s an “ongoing discussion” when it comes to public safety solutions.
Listen: DCP’s Rocky Schneider on The Flag
“I don’t know if that’s a management, resource management issue or they need more officers. Probably all of the above but it works,” said Schneider. “The police do a good job but it has to be pointed in the right direction.”
Schneider said the summer was “great” in terms of safety and security because school resource officers are available to “bolster up the force.”
But Schneider says the department “lost 8 or 9 officers” once the school year resumed.
“We’re down officers right now,” he said. “I think we could use more officers in the city budget for sure.”
Despite challenges such as dealing with homelessness, Schneider described the neighborhood as “vibrant.”
On September 25th, Schneider says Fargo’s Renaissance Zone Authority discussed a proposal for new $93 million downtown apartment complex off NP Avenue.
“When I was growing up, nobody talked about downtown,” said Schneider. “The fact that everyone likes to talk about downtown [now] and it’s the hot button topic, I’ll take that over the opposite.”
DCP is offering a public survey on how to expand and improve public amenities, something Schneider wants to address before “it’s too late to make the changes.”
“We just want to stay ahead of it,” said Schneider. “If we’re not keeping our things up to date, how do you expect businesses to do that.”
