Oakes Police Department

06/14/2026

🚒🥞 Community Event Reminder! 🥞🚒
Join the Oakes Fire Auxiliary for their 1st Annual Irrigation Days Breakfast Feed on Saturday, June 14th, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at the Oakes Fire Hall.
Come enjoy a great breakfast prepared by local volunteer firefighters, check out fire trucks and equipment on display, and enter for a chance to win raffle prizes!
💵 Free-will donation Proceeds will help purchase new firefighter air packs.
This is a great opportunity to support our local firefighters and spend some time with the community. We hope to see you there!

06/12/2026

UPDATE: Last night, officers responded to a single-vehicle crash in Oakes. The crash took out a city light pole and totaled the vehicle. This was not a minor accident. The driver left the scene on foot before officers could speak with him.

We want to explain why we released the information as quickly as we did. At the time, we had reason to believe the driver may have been impaired by alcohol or drugs, and we did not know who he was or why he ran. When there is a possibility that someone impaired is fleeing after a crash and running through our neighborhoods, we would rather get information out fast and update it as we learn more than wait until we have every detail. That is why the first post went up without a location and was updated shortly after.

Since then, we have made significant progress identifying the driver, and this remains an active investigation. If you have information about the crash, please call the Oakes Police Department at 701-742-2172 rather than posting in the comments so we can follow up with you directly.

One last thing. We are not naive. We know most people in town know where our officers live. We just ask that you not post it on social media. Knowing it and broadcasting it are two different things.

Thank you to everyone who shared last night's post and reached out.

06/12/2026

**Not Active**

"Be advised, we're looking for an individual involved in a motor vehicle accident who fled the scene on foot. Subject is described as wearing glasses, a lime green shirt, and blue jeans. Last seen traveling eastbound on foot near Grace Lutheran Church. Use caution and call the oakes police department"

06/11/2026

The Irrigation Days parade will take place tomorrow, Friday, June 12, starting at 6:30 PM.

If you live or park along the route, please have vehicles, trailers, and campers off the street by 5:00 p.m. Expect the route and nearby streets to be closed to traffic shortly before and during the parade.

If you are driving through town this weekend, slow down and watch for foot traffic. And if your plans include a few drinks, line up a ride before you need one.

We will have five officers out on Friday and Saturday to ensure everyone's safety. We’re not there to spoil anyone's fun; we simply ask that you use good judgment. If something feels like a bad idea, it probably is, so please avoid it.

Enjoy the weekend celebrating 250 years of American history right here at home. We look forward to seeing you out there!

06/10/2026

Camper season is here, and we've had some questions about the rules in town. Here's the short version.

Keeping your camper parked at your own place? You're fine. No permit, no time limit, as long as nobody is living in it. (Ordinance 16.0902(3))

Parked on the street? Also fine, up to 7 days at a time, April through October. (Ordinance 16.0902(3)(d))

Have family or friends visiting and staying in their RV on your property? That's allowed too. Just call City Hall for a free Visitors RV Permit. It takes a couple of minutes, costs nothing, covers a two-week stay, and they'll go over the simple placement guidelines when you call. (Ordinance 16.0902(4))

One rule we will always enforce: holding tanks get emptied at a proper dump station, never on the ground or down a storm drain. Our whole town drinks from the aquifer under our feet. (Ordinances 16.0104 and 16.0105)

That's it. Enjoy your summer.

05/22/2026

This Memorial Day weekend, fire up the grill, spend time with family and friends, and enjoy what looks to be a great weekend once the rain passes tonight. If you're traveling, be safe. If you're celebrating, drink responsibly. Just don't forget what this day is really about. Somewhere there's a family with an empty seat at the table because someone chose to serve. Remember them.

04/30/2026

PUBLIC SAFETY NOTICE — CHILD SAFETY WARNING

The Oakes Police Department, in coordination with Dickey County State’s Attorney Kimberly Radermacher, is issuing a public safety warning regarding a dangerous criminal network that federal and multi-state law enforcement have identified as actively targeting children through online gaming platforms and social media applications, including Discord, Roblox, TikTok, and Instagram.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has confirmed awareness of this network and characterized it as dangerous, with operations spanning multiple states and countries.

HOW THIS NETWORK OPERATES
— Members make contact with children through gaming platforms and social media, often posing as peers or online friends
— Members use threats and coercion to manipulate victims, including threatening to expose personal information or contact families, schools, or peers
— The group has been linked to exploiting and manipulating minors

WARNING SIGNS FOR PARENTS
— Secrecy about online activity or closing screens when a parent approaches
— Conversations with individuals they have never met in person
— Unexplained gifts, gaming currency, or gift card requests
— Unapproved apps installed on their device, particularly Discord or Telegram
— Signs of anxiety or behavioral changes connected to online activity
— Mentions of keeping online friendships secret from parents

WHAT PARENTS SHOULD DO
— Talk openly with your child about who they interact with online
— Review applications on your child’s devices and know their purpose
— Enable parental controls on gaming platforms and social media
— Preserve any suspicious messages and contact law enforcement
— If you believe your child has been contacted, call us immediately

A MESSAGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE
If you or someone you know has had contact with this group, you have done nothing wrong. You are not in trouble. We are here to help, not to judge. Please speak with a parent, a trusted adult, or contact us directly.

Oakes Police Department: 701-742-2172

Online exploitation of children can also be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or cybertipline.org.

Please share this post to help keep our community’s children safe.

04/30/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18gbndgToE/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Well deserved! Huge congratulations to Oakes Volunteer Ambulance on being named North Dakota EMS Service of the Year. Thank you for everything you do for our community—proud to serve alongside you.

03/10/2026

⚠️ SCAM ALERT⚠️

We want to make our community aware that several residents have recently received text messages claiming they owe money for unpaid fines or toll violations. These are scams.

North Dakota has no toll roads, and no government agency will ever contact you by text demanding payment for fines or violations. These scams are becoming increasingly convincing. They use official-looking language, real agency names, and create a sense of urgency to get you to act before you think it through. New variations are showing up almost daily, so please stay alert.

We also want to make a point of reaching out to our elderly residents. Seniors are frequently targeted by scammers, and we'd encourage everyone to take a few minutes to talk to the older family members and neighbors in your life. Make sure they know what to watch for.

If you receive a suspicious text or call:
🚫 Do not click any links
🚫 Do not reply or provide any personal or payment information
✅ Delete the message and report it to your cell provider

If you're ever unsure whether a message is legitimate, please don't hesitate to contact us before taking any action. We are always happy to help.

Attached is a photo of an example of a text message that has been received. Additionally, here is a link to an article referencing these scams from last summer:

https://keyzradio.com/scam-alert-north-dakota-highway-patrol-isnt-texting-you-fines-or-asking-for-donations/

03/02/2026

Good information for parents.

Parents & kids - protect your social accounts from strangers. Scammers and abusers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to create and share sexually explicit images of children, sometimes by “nudifying” photos found on social media. The Internet Watch Foundation has warned this is a serious and growing problem. Their first October 2023 study found over 20,000 AI-generated images on a dark-web forum in one month, with more than 3,000 depicting criminal child sexual abuse.

A recent local case shows how real this threat is: a Barnes County (North Dakota) man admitted he used AI to create n**e photos and videos of teenage girls from images he took off their Instagram accounts and was sentenced for possessing CSAM. https://ow.ly/YYPP50YmATv

Quick steps parents & kids can take right now:
• Make accounts private and regularly review your followers/friends. Don’t accept requests from strangers.
• Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) and use unique, strong passwords.
• Disable location tagging/geotags on posts and photos.
• Limit what you share: avoid full-name + school + routine + home photos in public posts. Treat profile photos and school-uniform pics as sensitive.
• Teach kids never to DM or share images with people they don’t know. Screenshots can be manipulated or used to create fake/AI images.
• If someone asks for sexual images or tries to coerce a child - block, preserve screenshots, and report to the platform and local authorities immediately.
• Check privacy settings on apps used by your kids (review them together) and keep apps/OS updated.

Why this matters: AI tools are making fake-but-realistic sexual images easier to create and spread, overwhelming safety systems and retraumatizing victims. Experts and news outlets are raising alarms and urging stronger detection and legal action.

If you see suspicious activity or think a child’s image has been used, report it to the platform, your local police, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Share this post to help parents and kids in your community stay safer.