A New Focus on Officer Wellness: Fargo Police Department Leads the Way
The Fargo Police Department (FPD) prioritizes officer wellness as a fundamental agency value, believing firmly that wellness initiatives and peer support are essential for both sworn and civilian staff, from the top down. Every one of our department team members feels the effects of the trauma and stress that is the unfortunate reality of our noble profession. Each performs their role and responsibility with fidelity on a daily basis. The work of our staff, sworn and civilian, is vital to organizational success and the ability to provide outstanding community service. We, as law enforcement leaders, have a duty to do all that we can to prepare and support them throughout their careers.
An Agency Commitment to Wellness
In 2024, the FPD hired a full-time wellness coordinator, funded by a grant from the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office). This significant investment followed the implementation of enhanced heart screening in 2023, annual mandatory mental health check-ins, resilience training through the VALOR program, and participation in the “Struggle Well” program that supports posttraumatic growth for officers. Also in 2024, the Department partnered with the National Policing Institute (NPI) on a sleep study for officers to better inform them regarding shiftwork and sleep patterns. More recently, in 2025, the FPD reintroduced annual physical agility tests, focusing on improving health rather than disciplinary measures. FPD plans to expand wellness efforts, proposing a Wellness Unit in the 2025 to 2026 budget.
Focusing on Learning and Improvement
To advance FPD’s continuous improvement in officer wellness, the Department partnered with the NPI as the first participant in an organizational stress study, funded by the National Institute of Justice, that will assist FPD in enhancing the current wellness approach through the development of comprehensive wellness strategies at multiple organizational levels. At the agency level, it is crucial to identify risks, reduce undue stressors, and foster a culture of wellness. Supervisors play a key role in promoting wellness and taking responsibility for reducing stress among their teams. On an individual level, initiatives such as resilience training and sleep hygiene are essential.
Through this program, officers who voluntarily participate in surveys and wear biometric devices receive personalized feedback about their levels of organizational stress, coping and resilience strategies, and how they compare to their peers in the agency. By analyzing the collected survey data paired with biometrics and administrative data, FPD will gain actionable insights and recommendations to improve the agency and officers’ lives. This work also involves focus groups of personnel at all levels within the agency to identify strategies that reduce organizational stressors and mitigate their harmful impacts.
Boost Your Agency’s Wellness Initiatives
FPD is committed to officer wellness and doing what it takes to support continuous improvement. Focusing on understanding organizational stress and its impacts on officers exemplifies a comprehensive, integrated approach to wellness. FPD has partnered with NPI to evaluate how these strategies can mitigate the adverse effects of organizational stress for law enforcement. This includes examining individual characteristics and behaviors, and their impact on health, wellness, and job performance outcomes. A description of the findings from this work will be available within the next year. For more information, contact the study’s Principal Investigator, Dr. Karen L. Amendola or the NPI’s Knowledge Lab.
Author:
Chief David Zibolski, Fargo Police Department
Co-Principal Investigators:
Jennifer Rineer, Ph.D., Director & Research Psychologist, Workforce Wellbeing & Effectiveness Program, Center for Public Safety & Resilience, RTI International
Maria Valdovinos Olson, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, National Policing Institute
Published July 2, 2025