By Jenny Michael
Bismarck Tribune
ZEELAND, N.D. — A Bismarck man is accused of acting as a police officer in Zeeland without being licensed and without working for a licensed law enforcement agency after the city council tried to set up its own police department and asked him to investigate ownership of ambulance equipment.
Darrell Graf, who runs the North Dakota Fire Academy and was a law enforcement officer in Medina in the early 1980s, was charged Monday in McIntosh County with three counts of impersonating officials, a Class A misdemeanor. He is scheduled to appear in court on the charges on June 27.
Graf, who did not know about the charges until he was called by the Tribune on Wednesday, said he was appointed by the mayor of Zeeland to investigate “corruption” in the county.
“I’ve worked with municipal, county, state and federal governments, and I’ve never seen corruption like I’ve seen in McIntosh County,” Graf said.
The town of Zeeland, located southwest of Ashley near the South Dakota border, has fewer than 100 residents but seems to have had enough controversy and conflict in recent years for a town many times larger. Fights over services provided by fire and ambulance departments have divided people in the town for several years.
The Zeeland Rural Fire Protection District reorganized two years ago, leading to factions within the department and the community, City Councilman Darrell Wolf said. Now, the fire protection district’s first responders unit is embroiled in controversy over who owns the gear inside an ambulance.
Graf said the alleged corruption he was investigating stems from the fire department and ambulance service disputes. Graf got involved in the matter while volunteering his services as a training officer for the Zeeland Rural Fire Protection District. Wolf said Graf volunteered “countless” hours to help get the fire department on track.
According to April 11 minutes of the Zeeland City Council, Mayor Bob Schumacher appointed Graf as a reserve officer and detective and established the Zeeland Police Department, and the other three city council members approved the move. The minutes said Graf would not be paid and could not carry a weapon but would have full arrest and investigative powers. Zeeland City Attorney Sidney Gross said the move was allowed under the North Dakota Century Code.
Wolf said the sheriff’s department and state’s attorney’s office wouldn’t help the town, so the mayor appointed Graf to investigate ownership of the ambulance gear.
“We’re trying to get this stuff straightened out,” he said. “My opinion is, we needed help.”
Bureau of Criminal Investigations Special Agent Arnie Rummel wrote in an affidavit that state law allows reserve officers, but they must work for licensed law enforcement agencies. The Zeeland Police Department is not licensed by the North Dakota Peace Officers Standards and Training Board. The town is under the jurisdiction of the McIntosh County Sheriff’s Department.
“They hired him as a reserve police officer with powers to arrest and investigate,” McIntosh County State’s Attorney Terry Elhard said. “The problem is, they don’t have a police department there. They don’t have a chief of police.”
Rummel began investigating reports of Graf acting as a police officer without a license on April 27. He informed Graf that the law required a person acting as a police officer to be a licensed police officer working for a licensed law enforcement agency, but Graf continued to conduct investigations.
Rummel wrote that he spoke to Graf again on April 28, at a meeting for the Zeeland Fire Department board of directors, and Graf protested that mayors can allow exceptions to licensing requirements for reserve officers. Rummel pointed out that Graf would have to be part of a police department with a chief of police who is a licensed law enforcement officer.
Graf told the Tribune he started referring to himself as a detective for the mayor of Zeeland rather than with the Zeeland Police Department so he would not be misrepresenting himself as a peace officer. He is not a licensed peace officer or a licensed private investigator. He said he didn’t need to have a license since he was appointed by the mayor.
Rummel learned on May 4 that Graf had gone to a gun store in Linton, identifying himself as a detective from the Zeeland Police Department. Graf was wearing full body armor and asked for law enforcement pricing for weapons, Rummel’s report said.
Rummel wrote that he learned on May 11 that Graf had gone to the Zeeland School and interviewed a 17-year-old student about a sexual assault. The student told Rummel that Graf said he was investigating a report of a male fitting the student’s description having a sexual relationship with an older woman.
Elhard said he never received a report of a sexual assault.
Graf also asked for information from the Wishek Hospital via letters with letterhead identifying him as a detective for Zeeland, the affidavit said.
On May 13, Rummel recorded an interview with Graf in which he told Graf he would be arrested for impersonating a police officer. Graf told Rummel he was a detective for the mayor of Zeeland, not a police department, and Rummel pointed out that a detective is a police officer and must be licensed and assigned to a law enforcement agency.
“During the conversation, Graf admitted to ‘investigating’ a felony rape case as a detective,” Rummel wrote.
On May 16, Rummel met with a woman at the Wishek Police Department who said Graf had interviewed her about a house in Zeeland that squatters occupied. The woman said Graf took a picture of her, and she would like it back.
Graf told the Tribune the alleged rape case and the squatters case stemmed from the “corruption” he was investigating. He maintained his innocence to the charges and said he was acting under the authority of the city council.
Wolf, also a volunteer firefighter, said despite the problems, the town of Zeeland has great people and great businesses.
“The local community is great,” he said.
The city council’s biggest concern is having workers who are able to respond to emergency calls. It has been two months since a 911 call was placed in the town, he said.
“We’re an elderly community, and all we want is people to respond who are capable and able to,"he said.
Copyright 2011 The Bismarck Tribune