Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski announces his retirement at a news conference beside Mayor Tim Mahoney (left) and City Administrator Michael Redlinger (Right). (KFGO News Photo / Ryan Janke)
FARGO (KFGO) – Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski is retiring. His last day with the city will be March 27. Zibolski said serving the Fargo community has been one of the greatest honors of his professional life and the decision to retire was family related.
“Our department is filled with outstanding men and women who go out there everyday to keep our community safe, very proud of all their efforts and all of our accomplishments.” Zibolski said.
Zibolski says he’s recommending assistant police chief Travis Stefonowicz as interim chief. That decision will be made by the City Commission.
“Our great executive staff team, our Assistant Chief and Captains are very well prepared for a transition such as this. That’s one of the big responsibilities in this world is making sure that when you transition out that the next person is ready” Zibolski said.
Mayor Tim Mahoney says Zibolski has served the city with professionalism and a strong commitment to public safety.
“Crime has gone down now two years in a row, continues to go down and we’re making progress. And I know a lot of people like the traffic team because we really drove down some of the traffic issues that we had in the community, but he also was concerned about the wellness of our officers and the wellness program is really fantastic in which we address the different issues that people have.” Zibolski said.
City Commissioner Denise Kolpack, a candidate for Mayor, is critical of how Ziboski’s retirement was handled. She contends that it should have been announced as soon as Zibolski shared the decision with his command staff and officers.
Zibolski came to Fargo in 2020 from Wisconsin, where he served as the Police Chief in Beloit. He also spent 27 years with the Milwaukee Police Department and worked in the Attorney General’s Office.
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