West Fargo, N.D. – The man leading the West Fargo Police Department talked about a wide range of topics during an in-person studio interview on Friday.
The subjects ranged from the perceived high volume of police pursuits, to Cass County’s jail expansion and preparing for the new school year.
Chief Pete Nielsen was first asked about whether or not police chases are on the rise.
“I don’t think there’s actually an uptick in it,” said Nielsen on The Flag. “It’s not something out of the ordinary right now.”
Nielsen says vehicle pursuits occur during less than 1% of all traffic stops.
Listen: West Fargo Police Chief Pete Nielsen on The Flag
While the department does have a police to chase after suspects in those cases, Nielsen says there are factors at play to determine if a pursuit should be called off.
“Public safety, vehicle speeds and different types of things that the officer and supervisor take into account when to terminate.”
On the opening of the new jail pod in August at the Cass County Jail, Nielsen says they’ll now be able to take more people who are arrested on active warrants into the system.
“When the jail was at capacity, our officers had to release some of those individuals because there was no room at the jail,” said Nielsen.
Before the pod’s opening, the county sheriff’s office also put out a notice this week to anyone with active misdemeanor warrants to reached out and settle it before it’s too late.
“I would ask that if you do know you have a warrant to contact the sheriff’s department and take care of that,” said Nielsen.
Nielsen was also asked about preparing for the new upcoming school year.
Nielsen says they have one of the largest school resource officer divisions to handle security.
The department also assigned three ‘comfort dogs’ with officers to provide additional support for staff and children
“To those who have students in our district, we just want them to know are covered,” said Nielsen. “The schools are safe.”
