At the Police Advisory and Oversight Board meeting June 12, police department staff walked board members through how the Fargo tip line is processed, what information helps an investigation and the limits of follow-up contact.

The staff member said community members may submit tips about criminal activity to Fargo PD and that people may submit tips anonymously. "If you give a tip, can you do for 1, can you do it anonymously? You can," the staff member said.

Police staff said the intelligence unit vets incoming tips to determine whether the information is credible, whether it relates to a current investigation and which unit should receive it. "Anything that comes in on the tip line also has to be, you know, vetted as well because we have to ensure that the information is, you know, reasonably true before we start, you know, opening investigations on people," the staff member said.

Staff explained that useful details include the identity of suspects when known, descriptions, addresses, license-plate numbers and any callback number or first name. Where callers provide contact information, detectives or analysts may follow up for clarifying questions; where information opens or relates to an ongoing investigation, staff said they generally cannot disclose investigative details to tipsters. "They're not gonna be able to call you back and tell you, like, okay. We've we're looking into this...Because, obviously, all that is kind is protected because it's an an open investigation," the staff member said.

Board members noted confusion among some residents about whether a tip will generate visible action; staff said response times and the amount of follow-up vary by the tip's content and whether it is intelligence or criminal-information in nature. Staff also said tips submitted via text or the department’s system receive a notice that the tip was received.

No formal changes to the tip process were adopted at the June 12 meeting.