Apr. 10—GRAND FORKS — A former Grand Forks Police Department officer who claims she was discriminated against and fired in retaliation for reporting alleged inappropriate behavior was herself placed on improvement plans and is accused of unprofessional actions while on duty, according to her personnel file.
In a civil complaint filed in federal court March 5,
Carrie Sell alleges she was written up for “petty incidents” and also that GFPD staff “concocted reasons” to terminate her employment within weeks of the end of her relationship with Benjamin Wiebolt, a fellow police officer.
After originally reporting on the civil complaint, the Grand Forks Herald made an open-records request for the personnel files of Sell and Wiebolt. In Sell’s file were reprimands and corrective actions that predated her breakup with Wiebolt.
In her complaint, Sell claims she was retaliated against for reporting what she believed was stalker-like behavior on Wiebolt’s part, and that she was discriminated against based on her gender.
The Herald reached out to Sell Tuesday, April 8, for comment. At that time, Sell asked to see her personnel file, which the Herald provided. Sell sent a written statement the next afternoon. She said she was astonished to see such a lengthy file; she claims the file given to her at the time of her termination was much shorter.
“I have not had adequate time to study all 360 pages of this ‘new’ personnel file provided to you by the police department, but in my initial review, I see that it contains numerous documents that were added after the fact and that contain inaccurate or misleading information,” Sell said. “It also includes documents added after my termination, which was on October 21, 2024. Once again, I am disappointed and discouraged by the lack of professionalism shown by this police department. I am concerned that these expansions to my personnel file are intended to discredit me in the face of my lawsuit. And I look forward to proving my claims in court.”
The city, Lt. Travis Benson, Sgt. Robert Starr and since-retired Chief Mark Nelson are listed as defendants in the suit.
The city is accused of negligent hiring, supervising and retention; sex discrimination and retaliation; as well as sex discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The three remaining defendants are accused of sex discrimination.
Sell began working for the agency in December 2021, with written concerns and complaints about her job performance appearing to begin in March 2023. She was placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) in April 2024 that lasted approximately two months; another was initiated at the end of July.
Her relationship with Wiebolt, according to her civil complaint, ended in August 2024.
A “summary of concerns and request for disciplinary review” was sent by Lt. Benson to Chief Nelson in September 2024.
The document states there had been instances of Sell using profane language and being unprofessional when dealing with civilians. Once, according to the documents, she is said to have asked a resident if they were “a special kind of (expletive) stupid.”
Other accusations include that, on multiple occasions, Sell did not file necessary paperwork or label video footage from her shifts in a timely manner — or, sometimes, at all.
On one occasion, Sell is said to have failed to file the necessary paperwork after she pointed a Taser at someone.
On May 7, 2024, Sell was sent to a suspicious activity call, where she threw away all evidence at the scene, according to the summary. She is said to have told the reporting party that they could call an “(expletive) detective” if they wanted the matter investigated.
Sell also was said to have gotten in confrontations with her peers, including telling them on more than one occasion how to do their job despite having no authority over them, and claiming someone helped her peer cheat to get a position on the Crisis Negotiations Team.
On Sept. 3, 2024, according to the documents, in-car video showed Sell engaging in a personal phone call while driving through town at speeds up to 85 mph to respond to an emergency.
“Officer Sell has continually demonstrated a lack of professionalism, poor decision making, a disregard for city of Grand Forks policy and procedures and a disregard for safe police practices,” the summary said. “Her co-workers are afraid of her arriving at their calls for fear of what she may do or say, and they are also frustrated over her comments and actions toward them and the public.”
The summary says that corrective actions have been attempted; Sell has had many opportunities to learn policy, discuss expectations, be coached and educated and receive feedback, “yet we are still not seeing the desired results.”
“Officer Sell’s poor performance has created more work for detectives, evidence personnel and her supervisor, in addition to creating heightened liability to the city of Grand Forks, the Grand Forks Police Department and all its members,” the summary said. “I am no longer convinced that we can create an effective officer.”
In her civil complaint, Sell alleges that it was negligent to hire Wiebolt in the first place, because she claims he has a significant record of misconduct.
Reviewing Wiebolt’s file, the Herald noted two substantiated complaints against him. One was for tagging the wrong kind of deer while hunting out-of-state, and the other was for kicking in a locked garage door while responding to a suicidal person. The documentation of this incident says that the policy regarding suicidal persons had changed fairly recently and, prior to that, this act would not have been prohibited.
Wiebolt’s file also explains that, in his job application, he disclosed he had been fired from a previous police department due to unexcused absences that were a result of his struggles with alcoholism.
He was convicted of driving under the influence in 2021, a fact that had to be brought to the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board before he could be hired. Documents in Wiebolt’s file explain that, at the time of his application, he was more than a year sober.
The Herald reached out to Wiebolt for comment. His attorney, Jeff Sprout, provided the following statement: “The allegations raised against Mr. Wiebolt are inaccurate and misleading. However, it is Grand Forks Police Department policy that employees are not to comment on these matters. Mr. Wiebolt is still employed with the Grand Forks Police Department. Accordingly, he will not be providing comment.”
The Herald contacted Human Resources Director Tangee Bouvette, who said Wiebolt is currently on administrative leave while an internal investigation — which she said has nothing to do with the lawsuit — takes place.
Because of the active nature of the investigation, any records related to it would be exempt from open records laws for up to 75 days following the date of the complaint, which was filed Feb. 27.