The Good Life – November-December 2016

LOCAL HEROES
By partnering with organizations
like Charism, the Boys and Girls
Club of the Red River Valley, Legacy
Children’s Foundation, First Assembly
Church and Life Church, to name
a few, the officers are able to hold
events such as Cocoa with a Cop,
Cool Off with a Cop, Fargo United and
C-4 (Character, Community, Charism,
Cops) Summer Camp.
The two officers also work handin-hand
with five area schools to
be a presence in the hallways,
classrooms and playgrounds where
signs of trouble often first show
up. But no matter how much effort
they make, they say it rarely feels
like enough. Originally, the Fargo
Police Department requested four
Community Trust Officers through the
grant, but were only rewarded two.
“It’s such an interesting thing
because—being just two people in
a city of 120,000 people—it’s like
what do we do and how do we do it
effectively,” Bloom wondered aloud.
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“You can have 10,000 ideas, but how
do you accomplish them?”
The answer is slowly. They’ve found
day by day, little by little their progress
becomes more evident.
“When you go to a school and kids
are name-dropping and asking where
(Matt) is when I’m the only one there,
it just shows that the seed he’s planted
is taking root,” Bloom said. “It’s
meaning something.”
The Best Part
Considering the officers are often
flying by the seat of their pants,
Niemeyer said one of his favorite
parts of the job is seeing things come
together, people open up and the
community jumping at the opportunity
to fill a role or contribute in some way.
“There are some parents that just flatout
hate cops—for whatever reason.
They will fight us tooth and nail to
work with their kids,” Niemeyer said.
But when they least expect it, they
receive parental consent from parents
they never dreamed would.
For Bloom, relationships mean
everything. “I care about people in
general a lot, which is why I wanted
this spot,” he said. “Our job gives us
freedom to connect with people on
deeper levels than most cops ever get
to.”
In a role like this, it’s easy to become
attached. Bloom admits it's one of
his favorite parts of the job. Unlike a
typical cop who may be tied to a single
beat, Bloom and Niemeyer have the
leeway to not only make those special
connections with the kids they serve,
but also to carve out time to foster
those relationships whenever and
wherever needed.
“It sounds simple but, to me, that’s
the world,” Bloom said. “That’s what
gets my heart stirring—the freedom to
really connect with people and show
them how much an officer really cares
about them.”