Despite recent violence, Moorhead crime is falling, police say
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August has been a violent month in the Fargo-Moorhead area. On Aug. 3, two people died in separate shootings. On Aug. 9, another person died in a third unrelated shooting.
And last week, two suspects were shot and killed in an exchange of gunfire with Fargo police at a Moorhead apartment building.
Shelly Carlson has served as Moorhead mayor since 2021, and Chris Helmick has been Moorhead’s police chief since April. They spoke with MPR News host Catharine Richert about the past month’s violence.
Press play above to listen to their conversation, or read a transcript below, edited for time and clarity.
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Let’s start with last week’s incident. Fargo officers shot at suspects in a domestic violence situation at a Moorhead apartment. Two people died. Chief, my understanding is that body cameras were worn during the incident. Do you plan to release that footage?
Chris Helmick: We do. It’s a little bit of a unique situation, because we have three different agencies involved that have body camera footage, as far as I understand, but ultimately the plan is to release the video. But I know on the Minnesota side, we are planning to release our videos likely next week sometime.
Mayor, you wrote an opinion piece for the Fargo Forum about the collaboration between Fargo and Moorhead police departments during that shooting in Moorhead. But up until recently, that collaboration wasn’t happening. North Dakota police departments wouldn’t come to Minnesota because of our use of force law, and that has since been struck down. How do these most recent situations highlight why that collaboration is so important?
Shelly Carlson: We’re just truly one community, whichever side of the river you’re on, you happen to be in a different state, and so working together is something that we do all of the time. So we have a shared dispatch center. We work together on flood mitigation, we work together on domestic violence. It's just kind of the way that we do things here.
On Saturday, two people were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide. That was the latest in a string of violent incidents in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Chief, when we look at the numbers, how does this August compare to Augusts in the past?
Helmick: Actually, when you look at this August versus last August, things are better. Last August we had a 30-day period where we actually had two homicides and some other notable incidents. And when you look at our crime this year, even though August is a little bit of an anomaly for looking at the rest of the year, we don't see anything at this point that's concerning when you look at the data.
And Mayor Carlson, when you look at the data, how do you see crime trending in Moorhead?
Carlson: Our population is increasing, yet our crime is going down. And I think that that really speaks to the proactive nature of the work that is being done by the Morehead Police Department.
Helmick: We have a position that was created a little bit over a year ago called a community resource navigator, and her main function is to take a look at those individuals that are driving a lot of calls for service for our police officers and are experiencing some type of mental health crisis.
And her job also entails working with other community stakeholders, such as social services, mental health providers, trying to determine what's the best way to get these folks the help that they need, rather than relying on police response. And it’s definitely helped drop our overall calls for service.
The Fargo police chief has been criticized for communication issues surrounding several violent events in the area in the last week, including transparency about where he was. Has that situation caused your staff in Moorhead to rethink the way you communicate to the public about crime in the city?
Helmick: It has. You know, I have to be honest, we learned some things from that situation, of making sure — especially as a new police chief — making sure we don’t repeat some of those things that he was receiving some criticism for, but it also it's a really tricky spot. You know, anytime you have an active investigation going on, there's certain information you can release. There's other information you can’t.
You mentioned that crime is falling in Moorhead, and in the Twin Cities, we’re actually seeing that too. But do you think there’s an issue with the public perception of crime?
Helmick: Absolutely, that is definitely something that I think every agency battles to some extent. And I know, coming from the Fargo Police Department, that was always an issue that I dealt with as well.
And again, it it's, it's such a fine line for police departments, because you don't want to diminish the concerns that the public has, because perception does matter, but it's also trying to show on a broader scope that things are maybe not as bad as people think they are. And you know, you especially will see that challenge come up when you have significant incidents like we’ve seen here in the last few weeks.
