Fargo Police lieutenant says department issuing more "quality of life" citations downtown

(Fargo, ND) -- A Fargo Police lieutenant says the department is writing more citations while dealing with one particular crime category downtown. 

"For some of the quality of life concerns that we deal with in downtown, the largest one that we see often is possession of alcohol or consuming alcohol in public, open container in public, which is against city ordinance," said Bill Ahlfeldt.

Ahlfeldt says the crimes he puts in a "quality of life" category include "open container" violations, urinating in public, and panhandling. He says so far this year the department has handed out a total of 308 citations pertaining to those violations, compared to 293 in 2021. 

Ahlfeldt gave the update Wednesday morning during the monthly "Downtown Download" at city hall.

He also said the department's efforts aimed at reducing the number of homeless camps along the Red River are also paying off.

"You'll be seeing similar camp cleanups and camp outreach into 2023 with that same type of relationship. I see that as one of the larger success we've had in 2022 when it comes to our homeless outreach and our mental health outreach," said Ahlfeldt.