Fargo-Moorhead officials hope to curb violence with threat assessment team
A new threat assessment team in Fargo-Moorhead will investigate people deemed to be a risk for violence.
“We’re not going to be able to prevent everything,” said Cass County North Dakota Sheriff Jesse Jahner in announcing the task force.
“Our goal through this is being able to, by working collaboratively and having this information coming in whether it’s through our citizens or investigations that law enforcement are doing, is to really try to identify that a person’s on a way to potential violence and then trying to disrupt that pathway,” said Jahner.
The task force has been in development for nearly a year said Jahner, starting before a July 2023 incident in Fargo when a gunman killed a Fargo police officer and wounded two officers and a civilian bystander.
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Officials said there is no evidence to indicate the threat assessment team would have prevented that incident.
FBI Special Agent Pat Rielly who works with threat assessment for the federal agency, advised local officials on forming the team. He said such teams represent a different approach to curbing violence.
“Traditionally, when you think about law enforcement agencies being involved in these types of cases, you’re thinking more punitive results,” said Rielly. “When we're looking at these cases now, if we can get ahead of it we can be more restorative justice, using things like mental health.”
Reilly said the FBI is encouraging local agencies to use threat assessment teams. He said there are more than 10 teams in Minnesota.
Cottage Grove Police Captain Randy McAlister works with a threat assessment team established in Washington County in 2015. He also helped advise Fargo-Moorhead officials.
McAlister said the goal is to break down information silos that prevent sharing of information.
“That helps you come up with systems to collect the dots, the behaviors, the police reports, the mental health reports, and then connect them all together to see a pattern of concerning behaviors and see that this person is moving along a path of potential violence,” said McAlister.
He said it’s difficult to know if intervention prevents a violent incident, but said he has seen cases where people acting in a threatening manner have received help and changed their behavior.
Clay County Sheriff Mark Empting said local agencies already collaborate across the state line and readily share information and resources.
“This adds another tool to the toolbox for us,” said Empting. “And this is going to be a great tool for us on both sides of the river. It's all about community safety.”