About the Fargo Police Department

The Fargo Police Department has 129 sworn police officers and 18 civilian support personnel. The department is divided into two major divisions:
Field Services and Support Services.

The Fargo Police Department responds to about 43,000 calls for service each year. These include investigations of homicides, sexual assaults, robberies, burglaries, thefts, arsons, traffic accidents, DUIs and other crimes. Fargo Police officers issue more than 18,000 traffic citations and 60,000 parking tickets annually. They make almost 10,000 arrests per year.

Field Services Division
The Field Services Division is made up of uniformed patrol officers, plus crime prevention and school resources officers. These officers are assigned to three geographic locations over four different shifts. Field Services provides the residents of Fargo with 24-hour uniformed coverage. Patrol officers work a nine-hour shift. The rotation is five days on and three days off.

The shift schedule is as follows:

    • Day shift: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    • Power shift: 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
    • PM shift: 4:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
    • Night shift: 11:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.


Support Services Division
Our Support Services Division includes investigations, narcotics/gangs, crime analysis, field services, hiring, training, background investigations, evidence and property, communications and records data processing. Officers in support services work a variety of hours that meet the needs of the department.

Community-Oriented Policing
The Fargo Police Department implemented Community-Oriented Policing (COP) in 1995. This approach to law enforcement is based on the premise that the police and the community work closely together to solve the problems of crime, fear of crime, drugs and other social and physical disorders. One of the primary tools used in COP is assigning a permanent beat to each patrol officer. This enables officers to get to know the problems and concerns within their beat.

Officers work together with residents to determine long-term solutions to recurring problems. Community-Oriented Policing is an ongoing strategy that will continue to evolve.

What the Job of a Police Officer is Really Like
Law enforcement can be a very rewarding and fulfilling profession. It requires both physical skills and mental abilities. An officer must be able to make decisions and act on them with limited time and information in situations where there is an element of danger. Officers must be able to deal with people in a variety of emotional states, while remaining calm and professional. Rigorous entry standards are absolutely necessary to ensure that officers are able to meet the physical and mental demands of the job.